Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of these characters. No copyright infringement is intended

We made the decision to leave after a late breakfast the following Friday morning. I was glad to be getting out of the city. We were thankful the forecast implied good weather.

Bella chose to drive up to The Dunes where the house, my parents owned, sat on the edge of Lake Michigan. The drive usually took about an hour. I closed my eyes and relaxed to the sound of Debussy, flowing through the speakers.

We used the house to get away for weekends and some of the holidays. It was secluded and there, I hoped I would be able to get some peace and much needed sleep.

Luckily, there was no one around when we left the apartment and made our way to the underground parking garage. I still felt like people were staring and pointing at me. I knew I was being completely irrational but that's how I felt, so I kept my head down and pulled my baseball cap over my eyes.

Bella seemed excited about getting out of the city. I'm sure she was sick of being cooped up in the apartment with me. I hoped being around family would give out some semblance and normality of the life we had before. I had requested very minimal visits from everyone. I knew they cared but I was still reluctant to be in crowded areas. I was afraid of the nervousness and being reminded of my darker days of my imprisonment.

I'd overheard Bella on the phone organizing the weekend plans. She asked for everyone to arrive later then we did; giving us some space to get comfortable with our surroundings.

She asked them to take it steady; not to pressure or expect too much from me.

Anger bubbled inside of me –Why was she trying to control everything and more importantly control me? Thinking rationally, I knew that her heart was in the right place. I appreciated the gesture, so I dismissed the anger as a pathetic over-reaction. I needed to get these mood swings and anger under control.

All of us being together for forty eight hours, will be the most people I had been around since I came home. The house was large enough. It consisted of six bedrooms and had a huge amount of space so that it shouldn't feel too crowded. I remembered once there being ten of us staying, plus a mere forty guests for a party for a birthday for Carlisle. It still felt empty.

Emmett was all for a family bonding weekend. Hell, normally I would be the first one to pack up the car, collect some beers and kick back but since…. well since I was taken, I was struggling to come to terms with normality. I knew that Emmett was keeping a close eye on me. He thought I hadn't noticed. He was probably reporting back to Carlisle and Esme on my progress. With Jasper being a doctor, he would be there to pick up the pieces if I fell apart. He wouldn't want to treat me in an official patient, doctor capacity, but it was reassuring to know that he was on hand, just in case.

Arriving at the house just before mid-day, the sun was shining which was a good sign. I enjoyed feeling the sun on my face. I had missed it so much during my time away. We pulled down the private driveway that hid the house from view. It felt good to be back.

Once we got out of the car, I stretched; breathing in the clear air and that relaxed me.

The house was a hideaway, with the exception of few people outside our family and close friends, knowing that we owned it. It was perfect, and more importantly hadn't been tainted by any bad memories for me; I wanted to keep it that way.

Walking through the door, I could see the lake. It had a view that I would never tire of. It was truly peaceful here. Wandering into the kitchen, I noticed both the fridge and pantry had been well stocked. I sighed with relief knowing we wouldn't have to leave for supplies. I made a mental note to thank Esme when I spoke to her, for this. I'm sure she called ahead to have the company, that maintained the house, to stock up for us.

I opened the large French doors, walking out onto the deck that lead down onto the soft sand. I felt like I could breathe for the first time in, well, months. I hoped the feeling would last.

Bella joined me shortly after; a smile lighting up her beautiful face. That was a sight that I had truly missed.

She slid her arms around my waist enquiring, "You okay, babe?"

I answered by pulling her into a kiss. This time, I was gentle and was rewarded by her instant response. I pulled away from her after a few minutes, knowing where this was leading. I wanted to show her that I truly loved her.

"C'mon angel, lets go get the best bedroom before the rabbles descend."

I gave her a genuine teasing smile. I took her hand in mine and lead her inside where we both knew what would happen. We made our way upstairs, picking the room on the top floor. The views over the lake were amazing, but not as amazing as Bella. Laying on the bed on her side, naked, tempting me to join her, beckoning me with her finger.

"C'mere, you." Damn, she didn't waste time getting undressed. I sure as hell wasn't going to deny her.

I stood for a moment, taking in every curve of her body, drinking her in. I wanted to take my time and kiss her all over. The woman before me deserved to be worshipped. I certainly intended to do just that. Discarding my clothes, I joined her on the bed, her body reacted to me perfectly and instantly, like we had never been apart.

I could feel her shudder under my touch as I ran my hands up her sides and across her breasts, latching my mouth onto one of her nipples causing her to moan. She ran her hands through my very short hair, tugging at what she could grip. Writhing underneath me, she begged me with her eyes to take her. How could I resist such an angel?

After much worshipping, I entered her slowly, taking my time, I started to make love to my own personal angel. Enjoying the feeling and the noises of pleasure she made in response to my thrusts, she bucked her hips in time with mine. As we made love, the past few months disappeared. All the nightmares and flashbacks were gone. I was feeling amazing. She was the only one making me feel this way. Her moans were for me. I was bringing her pleasure and she was rewarding me.

When she finally reached her orgasm, she took me crashing over the edge with her and I felt complete. There was only one word that I could use to describe her, breathtaking.

I had missed it all. The being close to her and being just us, together. We hadn't been together like this since I came home. Our sex had been passionless and forced. That was my fault entirely. This was something I was truly ashamed of.

I have loved Bella since the first moment that I saw her, and despite everything that had happened, she stood by me.

For the last couple of weeks, I had treated her at times, like she meant nothing to me; fucking her hard with no thought or concerns about anything else other than myself. Wanting to prove that I was back and alive with no intentions of letting her go. I had to live with my stupid mistake each and every day. I knew that once it was brought out into the open, it had the potential to rip my world even further apart.

Afterwards, we laid in each other's arms, safe and secure. We knew we had to get up; the others were due to arrive, soon. Untangling ourselves, we grabbed a quick shower together. There was nothing I wanted more than to make love to her again. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she wanted the same, but we resisted.

Once dressed, we made our way downstairs to wait for the others to arrive. I took that time to relax and prepare myself mentally. I knew that once they all arrived, they would bombard me with their questioning looks, care and concern. I love my family unconditionally, but it was hard to be around them at the moment.

Over the next few hours, I enjoyed my time with Bella. We made the most of the good weather and lounged around outside where Bella fell asleep curled up in my arms. While she slept, I watched her and was amazed at how peaceful she looked. She would sometimes mutter in her sleep. You often couldn't tell what she was saying, but it was adorable, nonetheless.

I knew, as I lay there that my siblings would be arriving soon, there was no way this peace and quiet would be allowed to remain unbroken. My angel needed her rest, so I managed to extract myself from her embrace and made my way inside, silently.

Hearing a car pull up, I took a deep breath, not knowing who was about to walk through the door, setting my nerves on edge. When I heard a loud voice, I knew Emmett and Rosalie had arrived. I was glad they were first. Emmett had already seen quite a bit recently, at our apartment, so he knew how I was and what to expect from me.

The door flew open and he breezed in with his arm around Rose; the door slamming shut behind them. I flinched at the loud noise; catching me off guard. My reaction caused Emmett to look sheepish and grin at me.

Rose decided to scold him for his behaviour, "Em, you oaf, what are you doing? Way to announce our arrival." Sounding annoyed with him.

He embraced me in one of his 'man hugs' like he hadn't seen me in years.

Bella appeared in the doorway, looking dishevelled and annoyed. I had wanted to wake her gently but no, thanks to Emmett, that wasn't happening.

Rose saw her as she stood in the doorway and rushed to greet her, "Oh, Bella, it's so good to see you."

It was glad to see them so close. I had always had the impression that Rose didn't like Bella, but things had obviously changed since I was away. That pleased me. Rose made her way over to me; arms out for a hug. How could I say no to her?

"Gosh Edward, you're looking good, I haven't seen you since..." I felt like I had been slapped when she drew back and spoke to me.

I froze. I knew she didn't mean anything but the last time I saw her, was just before I was taken and the memory is still raw.

No-one knew what to do next, so Bella tried to break the silence that was hanging around us, "You guys want iced tea?"

Rose couldn't look at either of us and said , "I just need to freshen up first and change. I came straight from a studio shoot, which was long and boring."

Emmett was the only person I knew who could break the tension that had built, and I loved him for it.

"Hmmm need a hand freshening up, babe?" Emmett asked in a low voice while suggestively wiggling his eyebrows at her. She swatted him on the arm, before promptly running off upstairs giggling like a schoolgirl.

I rolled my eyes at their behavior; shouting after them, "Can you two not leave each other alone for five minutes?"

Bella caught my eye and I could tell she was reading me like a book. She knew I had remembered when I last saw Rose. I tried to keep the look of hurt from my face but the memory was still too painful. My reverie was broken when Emmett came back downstairs with a face that looked like he was about to cry. I managed not to laugh at him.

Bella read his face perfectly and teased him. "Awww, she knock you back stud?"

Emmett ignored her and grabbed a beer from the fridge. He sat on the large couch and started flicking through the TV channels. I went to join him knowing that, in true Cullen men style, he would only talk when he was ready and certainly not before.

We sat in silence mindlessly flicking through the channels on the tv. I spied Bella as she went upstairs. I assumed that Rose needed someone to talk to.

When they reappeared, I could tell that Rose had been crying. I only hoped this wasn't something that I had done. I didn't get chance to tell her that it was okay before they grabbed a jug of iced tea and went to sit outside.

We were still in our lounging positions when Alice and Jasper arrived. Alice breezed through the door with a huge smile on her face and danced through the room. She made her rounds of hugs and embraces then made her way out to Bella and Rose. Jasper hadn't even made it through the door yet. I heard Bella laugh. It was music to my ears.

Jasper greeted us, with fist bumps, "Long time, no see, bro," before he went out to the ladies. He was a perfect fit for my sister where Alice was non-stop; he was the calming influence.

Alice's arrival brought me back out of my shell. It was hard to maintain a bad mood around her and her sunny outlook was infectious. Jasper decided to join us in our channel hopping marathon. I could hear the ladies outside chatting away and this gave me comfort to know that Bella was happy.

After we spoiled our ladies with pizza from Bella's favorite pizzeria, I lead Bella down to the shoreline. We sat wrapped in each other's arms, watching the sun set. Her back was pressed to my chest while I kissed her neck with slow, soft, gentle kisses. I let my hands roam under her top and over her skin. I was rewarded when she turned and straddled my lap, gazing deep into my eyes.

I looked at her with pure love and adoration. We continued to kiss but I hesitated. I wasn't sure of myself for a split second; she noticed and reacted to me. "You okay, baby?" I nodded for reassurance.

We ended up back in our previous position. I revelled in the happiness just to have this contact with her and to hold her in my arms. I just wanted to be with her. I never wanted to let her go. I didn't know what the future would bring for us, but I just hoped that we would be able to face the future together, and together we would be able to face anything.

I let out a long sigh and watched to sun go down with my Angel by my side, not knowing what tomorrow would bring.

Authors Note

Thanks again to the very fabulous DreamOfRob10 for betaing this for me and doing such a great job!

Thank you so much for reading and sticking with me on this one. Please do let me know what you think by hitting the review button below!

There are more chapters being beta'd at the moment, and as previously mentioned I will be posting Bella's point of view as a separate story – that is still to come. Please bear with me as my poor betas laptop has died on her and she has had to start again :-(

Lou x x