Chapter 2-

"Bella? Bella, what is it?" Edward's anxious face hovered over me.

"I-" I choked out.

"Ssh, baby. It's okay, I'm here, and you're safe." Edward straddled my waist and massaged my scalp as he waited for me to respond.

"Edward," I bit my lip. I coughed out a laugh, "I don't know how to begin." He shifted so that he was sitting up and I was sitting in his lap.

"Start from the beginning."

That was going to be hard too. How was I to explain this to him? "Edward, Victoria is after me."

He became as still as a statue. "What?"

"Victoria is looking for me." I rushed, "I was walking in the woods one day and Laurent found me. He told me that Victoria was going to kill me because you had killed James. A mate for a mate."

He looked down at me with wide eyes pooling with distress. "Oh, God. Oh, Bella. I should have never le– " I shook my head.

"Don't, please?" He nodded silently.

"How did you…I mean…how are you still alive?" He choked out.

I grimaced. "Werewolves." I said simply. "They chased Laurent away and killed him. I've been spending time with them ever since." I bit my lip and shied away, wondering how he would take this information.

"Werewolves?" I nodded hesitantly, waiting for the storm. "The Quileutes? They…?" I nodded again.

He moved me off his lap and settled me down beside him before putting his head into his hands. "Only you, Bella" he moaned. "Only you would have a vengeful vampire chasing after you. Only you would be saved by werewolves." He was silent for a long while and with each passing moment, I became increasingly anxious.

Finally, I couldn't take the silence anymore, "Edward?"

He lifted his head, not looking at me, and sighed heavily. At last, he turned his eyes to me, "Do you spend a lot of time with them?" I nodded yes. "Are they, are they your…friends?"

"Yes," It was his turn to nod.

"I see." He stayed quiet and the silence began killing me slowly.

"Edward? Are you mad at me?" I asked timidly.

His head snapped up to look at me, large, strong hands coming up to tenderly caress my face. I was wearing a pair of worn out jeans and a light sweater, but his penetrating stare made me feel like I was naked and I could feel the heat crawling up my neck to my face. "No, Bella. I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself for being such a stupid, masochistic idiot." I raised my eyebrows. "Alice's words, not mine," he explained. We shared a brief smile. "Bella, darling, I know that you believe that there is nothing to forgive, but would you care to indulge in my selfish need to apologize? For my sake? Because I honestly feel like if I don't get this off my chest, I will explode." Well, when you put it that way.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled and nodded.

"Bella, love, you don't know what it means to me that you would accept me back with open arms, just like that, after all that I've done to you." I opened my mouth to object, but bit my tongue instead; he needed this and I would fully support him. "I'm sorry that I caused any amount of pain to you. I'm sorry for the pain I caused myself. And that is truly saying something. Inevitably, I made the biggest mistake in the history of my existence, something that could've easily been avoided. All this pain could've been avoided." He picked up my hands and kissed the back of each. "I'm sorry that I left you, I'm sorry that I missed out on so much of your life. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you from Laurent, I'm sorry that you had to turn to werewolves for help. I'm sorry that I took not only myself, but rest of us Cullens away from you, too. I realize now that its best for us to be together."

"Done?" I looked at him expectantly. He smiled a little and nodded his head yes. "Good," and then I proceeded to throw my arms around him, hugging him tight to me. "I may not always agree with your decisions, but I understand that you'll always put me first before anyone else. I love you for being so considerate. And I know for a fact that you aren't the only one behind this little catastrophe. I'm to blame, too." I felt him begin to reiterate, and went on before he had a chance. "I knew what was happening, and I didn't stop you because I thought that perhaps it was paramount. That if I didn't let you go, then you would always doubt your place with me. So I'm sorry, too." He pulled back to kiss my forehead and then placed my head back in the crook of his shoulder.

We stayed silent then, it was a comfortable silence that seemed too fragile and precious to break. He was running his hands from the hair at the top of my head to my waist, repeating the circuit for about twelve times before asking in a low, playful voice, "So you love me only because I'm considerate?"

I giggled into the collar of his shirt. "There are other aspects of you that I love too, ya know."

"As a matter of fact I don't know." He turned us so that he was lying on my bed and I was lying on top of him. "I do know, however, that I love you because you're beautiful, selfless, understanding, courageous, amazing, frustrating, multi-dimensional, devoted, irresistible, and cunning. I love your laugh, your smile, your happiness, your gorgeous hair, your expressive eyes, your striking face, your unpredictable mind, your stunning body, and your love for music and literature. I love your everything."

My face had been buried in his chest after 'amazing', the left side of his unzipped jacket half-covering my head. I'm pretty sure he'd felt the burning in my face long before I had. He chuckled and tugged on my arms so that my head would follow. I bit my lip through my smile as I faced him fully, still blushing like mad. I laughed breathlessly, "Are you quite done yet?"

He kissed me hard on the mouth, and whispered against my lips, "Not nearly, but words aren't enough to express my love for you. I wish I could show you." I moved my lips against his in a sensual manner, wanting to really feel him. The growing pangs of desire that spread through my system provoked me into tugging his bottom lip in between my own and sucking lightly. His soft moan vibrated against my mouth and I whimpered slightly at the sensation. He pulled away and threw his head back on my pillows with a light thump, panting slightly. I settled my head next to his on a particularly fat pillow, facedown. My arms were on either side of us, tangled with his.

He snickered, just as breathless as I was. "We're going to end up destroying each other like this."

I hummed in agreement, turning my head to the side because I was becoming smothered. "I know what you mean," thinking about the little currents of electricity still running throughout my insides. If we kept this up, we'd just end up spontaneously combusting.

I fell asleep in his arms that night, and had the most fitful sleep in what seemed like forever.

I woke up alone. It was raining lightly outside, but what else was new? I checked my bedside clock to see that it was well past noon. I turned over and kicked off my jeans; it was way too hot. After a few minutes of attempting to fall asleep again, I groaned, stretching my muscles and when my brain caught up with my body, I sat up so quickly, I nearly gave myself whiplash. Swiveling my head around, there was no indication of Edward's reappearance at all. And then I saw his jacket draped over my desk chair and smiled so big, my face began to hurt.

I jumped off the bed and ran down the stairs in my socks like a kid on Christmas. I skidded to a halt when I saw him in the kitchen. Awww! He was making me breakfast! I walked over, roaming my gaze over him clad in a white, button-up and dark jeans, looking delicious.

Wrapping my arms around him, I whispered against the base of his neck, "Good-morning."

He flipped a pancake before smiling over his shoulder at me, "Isn't it?"

I hummed and took my time gazing at his butt after he had turned back around. His cool skin felt really good against my skin, very refreshing. When he had finished, he turned around with the plate; his expression amused and froze in his tracks as he looked down at me.

My smile slowly dissipated as I took in his wide eyes. "What is it?"

His eyes snapped back up to mine and he quickly turned back to the counter, his back facing me. He coughed awkwardly, his voice trembling with what sounded like laughter as he asked, "Um, did you want to put some pants on, Bella?"

My eyes grew wide in horror and I looked down at myself. I was wearing socks, my boxer-briefs, and my sweater from yesterday. My legs were completely exposed.

I stood there for a second, willing my face to cool down. Steeling myself, I crossed my arms and cocked my hips. "Why? Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing now?"

He turned back to me and shrugged, handing me my plate. "Are you planning on wearing that all day?" He asked staring unabashedly at my legs.

I snorted, hoping that would cover up my embarrassment. "Naw, I'm just seriously hungry. I'll change after I eat." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Hmmm," he hummed, and sat down next to me at the table while I ate. I was pretty sure he could see right through me, but he humored me anyway and didn't say anything else about my state of undress.

I looked down at my plate and laughed, my uncomfort and embarrassment momentarily forgotten. Edward had made me two pancakes, two eggs, sunny side up, and a strip of bacon, all forming a smiley face. I looked over at him to see him grinning beautifully.

"This is the best way to start a day," he said decidedly, and rested his head on his arms, still smiling up at me. "Laughing with the one you love." I gave him one more smile before digging in. For someone who doesn't eat food, he sure as hell know how to cook. I couldn't exactly enjoy breakfast, though, as Edward kept distracting me. One minute we were talking, the next his hand was sliding up my legs. I was a stuttering mess the whole while, and he was the cat who caught the canary.

After breakfast, I rushed upstairs to go through my morning routine, dressing up in jeans and dark blue button-up. I yanked a brush through my hair, grabbed Edward's jacket off the desk chair and ran back downstairs where Edward was watching TV in dad's chair. I threw his jacket at him and ran over to the coat hanger to grab my own.

"Where are we going?" He asked as I pulled my coat on.

"Your house," I said with a 'duh' expression. Amusement played with his lips as I locked the door. We walked over hand in hand to the Volvo parked in the driveway. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he shrugged.

"Where is Charlie, anyway?" Edward inquired as he opened the passenger door for me.

"He's in Seattle. They were a little short on men and with the killing spree going on over there, they need all the help they can get."

He frowned as he pulled out of the driveway, "Killing spree?"

"Yeah," I frowned, too, concerned for Charlie. "A whole bunch of people are turning up dead or missing." I shrugged, "I don't know the details, but they think it's a mass murder or something."

He reached over the console to squeeze my hand. I smiled gratefully at him and kissed his cheek before resting my head on his shoulder.

After a moment of silence, I said, "I didn't know either."

"Huh?"

"I didn't know why you loved me either until yesterday. But I do know that I love you because you're caring, gentlemanly, beautiful, incredible, sweet, noble, gallant, chivalrous, devious, and committed. And of course considerate." He chuckled quietly. "I love your intellect, your wayward hair, your intense eyes, your past, your family, your body – even if it is hard and cold, cause I know what's underneath that exterior, your capacity to love, your mind, and your mind-reading ways. I love everything about you." I played with his hair, tugging it and rubbing his scalp.

He pulled over to the side of the road and turned to me. "Are you quite done yet?" He grinned.

I snorted, "What's it to you?"

He leaned over to brush my hair back, "Cause I really want to kiss you now."

I leaned into his touch, "By all means, Mr. Cullen."

God, you have to love his lips, I thought as we crashed into each other. His scent overwhelmed my senses; his touch had me melting in my seat. My hands tangled in his hair and I pulled him closer to me, kneeling on my seat. My body started burning again, starting from my core and spreading. When I thought I was going to faint from lack of oxygen, he pulled away, and rested his forehead against mine.

When our gasps quieted down to slightly heavy breathing, we laughed like the sneaky teens we were supposed to be. Edward started driving again when we finally calmed down. For the rest of the drive, we snickered and snorted every now and then and just couldn't seem to stop. I was afraid that when we arrived at the Cullen's home, we would be caught wearing the guilty expressions of what we did. And we didn't even really do much of anything!

As we neared the mansion, my fears evaporated and were replaced with anxious excitement. Edward smirked over at me when he saw I was practically bouncing in place. I beamed when I saw a certain dark-haired little pixie, bouncing in place as well, waiting impatiently on the patio.


A/N: Please read and review! Maybe Edward will come over to cook breakfast for you ;)