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I cowered unconsciously into Edward's side as we walked through the restaurant doors with his parents. I thought I felt him place his hand on the small of my back, but just as soon as it was there it was gone again.

"Relax, woman," he whispered. I narrowed my eyes at him for his language and made a mental note to start charging him a dollar every time he used it. My parent's made a lot of money off of me using that system. Apparently I was a four year old with the mouth of a sailor. Granted my punishment was time out minutes or getting toys taken away, but is the same principle.

"One dollar," I mumbled.

"What?" He asked.

His father stepped up to the podium at the front of the restaurant and started speaking to the host.

"How many in your party?" The host asked.

"Four."

The host grabbed some menus and mumbled a "right this way" as we followed him back through the tables. He finally stopped and set the menus down before letting us know that our server would be right with us.

Dr. Cullen pulled his chair out for Mrs. Cullen and Edward strangely did the same for me. He was acting different around his parents. I mean he was the same screwball that he usually was, just a little more muted. It was almost like a real gentleman existed beneath the surface.

"Good evening, my name is Heidi and I'll be your server." The waitress stepped up to our table and smiled. She was obviously looking for a big tip. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"

"I'll have a glass of wine," Esme said.

"That sounds good for me as well." Dr. Cullen smiled at the Heidi and turned to Edward.

"Um…I'll have a beer." Edward nodded and started perusing through the menu. "Heineken."

"And for your wife?" She looked to me.

"I…." My eyes widened in a panic and shot from Edward to his parents and back to Edward. "I'm not married to him," I stuttered.

"We're not married." Edward turned to her with a wide grin on his face and tried not to laugh.

"Oh I'm sorry. What can I get you ma'am?" Heidi asked. I'm too young to be a ma'am, missy.

"I'll take a beer too. Whatever you have is fine."

"Alright I'll need to see I.D's from both of you." She smiled and leaned over Edward. I was fairly sure he could see right down her shirt and she didn't seem to mind. Hussy.

Edward and I handed her our driver's license. She left and quickly returned with all of our drinks. I think I downed half of the bottle in my first sip. I was so fucking anxious.

"So, Bella. What have you been up to…since high school?" Esme asked. "I see your father from time to time around town, but we never do anything more than wave to each other."

"I graduated from college." I cleared my throat. "I work in a bookstore."

"It's a pretty amazing bookstore," Edward said. "You should see her, she's smart as hell. Knows every book in the damn shop."

"I do not." I shook my head.

"You do."

"Well that's lovely, dear." Dr. Cullen smiled and took a sip of his wine. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

There was an uninterrupted mass of awkward silence as we all stared at each other across the table. I noticed that my hands had started massacring the poor, helpless napkin that sat in my lap. Tear. Tear. Rip. Shred.

"No," I said softly. "I don't."

I couldn't tell if they were genuinely interested in my life or trying to lead me to an early death because my heart was racing a million miles a minute and they'd only asked me two questions. If this was anything like my third grade spelling bee I'd be peeing my pants and muttering incoherently any second.

I finished my first beer before Miss Tits came back to take our order. She went through everyone else before she paused at me. She cocked her eyebrow and glanced down at my lap. "Do you need a new napkin as well?"

Four pairs of eyes joined hers on my lap, where a large pile of shredded napkin lay.

"Habit," I mumbled. I scooped up all of the pieces and set it in a neat pile beside my drink. "Can I just get another beer and I'll have the Cesar Salad." I handed her my menu and sighed.

Edward slipped his arm across the back of the booth and leaned in close. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Fine," I squeaked.

Heidi returned quickly with my drink and told us our food should be out shortly. Edward and his parents chatted while I drank and tried to sound out the crazy name of whatever beer she gave me. Hefewisen. Hefeweesen. "Hefe.." I whispered.

"Hefeweizen. You pronounce the w like a v," Dr. Cullen said.

"Thanks." I smiled as Heidi showed up with our food. She handed out my plate last and leaned over Edward again.

"Excuse my reach," she said. She set the plate down in front of me and not so accidentally knocked my beer over right into my lap.

I screamed and scrambled to pick up the bottle before the whole thing decided to saturate my underwear, but it got me pretty good. My mutinous vag was about to become a drunk one.

"Oh I'm so so sorry," Heidi said. "Let me get you another beer. On the house. Would you like a towel?"

"No thank you." I cleared my throat and turned towards Edward. "Bathroom." He scooted out of the booth and allowed me to exit. "Excuse me for just one sec."

I waddled the rest of the way to the bathroom almost like I really had peed my pants. I went into one of the stalls and peeled my soaked pants and underwear down my legs. I grabbed dubious amounts of toilet paper and blotted as much as I could. I half contemplated putting them under the hand dryer but that would require me going pantsless and this seemed like a pretty fancy establishment to me.

I sat in there for a good ten minutes trying to figure out what my next move was. I heard the door swing open and jumped when someone knocked on my stall door.

"Bella? It's Esme."

"Uh….hi."

"I just ran out to the car. I have some yoga pants from my session earlier today. If you don't mind wearing them, you're welcome to. At least they're dry." She swung the pants over the top of the stall.

"That's so nice of you." I was a little taken back by her kindness. It wasn't that she was mean to me in any way tonight. I just didn't feel the warmth that I'd always remembered about her. Something was different. "Thank you." I took the pants and set my wet ones in their place. Before I could say anything, she swiped them. I heard the sink turn on and I assumed she was rinsing them for me.

I changed into her yoga pants and stepped outside with a smile. "These are great. Thanks again."

"That little bitch did that on purpose," she mumbled. I choked on some spit and ran through her words again in my head just to make sure I heard her right.

"Did you just….?" I stuttered.

"Men may not notice when a woman is going out of her way to get their attention, but we see it." She smiled at me. "My son is a handsome boy, but he's not always the most observant person." She glanced my way again before she returned to rinsing my pants in silence.

I pulled myself up onto the counter and watched her work. I started fidgeting nervously as the elephant in the room grew fatter and fatter with each passing moment. The tears started to well up in my eyes as I realized how much I missed her. Edward's family was always amazing to me. She was like a second mother and when your own mother wasn't around much, it meant a lot.

"Esme, I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"For what, dear?" She seemed a little more at ease than before.

"For hurting him. I never meant to hurt him."

She finished with my pants and rung them out before turning the water off. "Honey, I don't know exactly what happened between you two, but I won't deny that it broke his heart. And it hurt me to see him like that. But I saw you two with each other. Whatever it was, I'm sure it was a mistake."

"A big mistake," I sniffled. "I thought you hated me. I mean you were so quiet earlier…"

"This isn't an easy situation for any of us, Bella. You were like a daughter to us and then suddenly you were just…gone. He was gone. You two together were nothing but a memory and that was a little hard to digest. I guess we just were unsure about how this was supposed to work." She pulled herself up on the counter beside me. "When Edward told us he was living with you, we both nearly keeled over right there. Not because we disliked you, just because of your history and we didn't want either one of you getting hurt. You two were just kids. You loved hard and you hurt just as hard."

I paused before asking her what I wanted to. Mainly because I wanted him to tell me, but I didn't know if he ever would. "Where did he go? When he left?"

"He took a year and went down to South America with Carlisle to work at some clinic. It was hard having them both gone, but I think it was good for him. When he came back he went to college for pre-med. He just finished last year, but for some reason hasn't applied to med school yet. I think he's waiting for someone other than his father and me to tell him he'd be a good doctor." She smoother out her skirt and cleared her throat.

"But you know what they say." She glanced at me with a strange look. "What's meant to be will be." She shrugged and jumped off the counter.

"Wait," I chased after her. I had a distinct feeling she wasn't talking about med school. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She smiled and shrugged before disappearing out the door. I grabbed my pants and ran after her.

Edward and Dr. Cullen watched us as we walked to the table. Edward got up and allowed me to get in. I didn't miss the long look he gave my ass in these pants. Good thing I wasn't wearing Granny Panties or my parachute pants would be exposed to the entire restaurant.

He smirked and leaned in close. "Those are nice. Very fitting." He laughed a little and I knew he thought he was cleverly flirting with me.

"Yeah they are," I said. "They're your mother's."

The moment I said that his face went blank and then distorted in disgust. He leaned back and started biting on his lip. Nothing is more terrifying to a guy than imagining their mother in anything remotely sexual. I just hit the jackpot.

He glanced at me once more and I cocked my eyebrow with a smile before I went back to eating my salad. He finally broke again and smirked at me as he turned away.

The rest of dinner went surprisingly well. It seemed more relaxed. Or maybe just I was. It must have been the yoga pants.

Now that I wasn't convinced that they wanted to hurt me, I saw Dr. Cullen and Esme with new eyes. They were nervous, just like she said. And once we all started talking, we fell back into almost what we used to be. Easy conversation. Fun jokes. Great advice. It was like we were us again. Edward and I. Carlisle and Esme. Almost like nothing had changed.

By the time Carlisle paid the bill, I slowly started to realize that I wasn't seventeen anymore and things weren't like they used to be. Lately it seemed too easy for me to slip back to that place. It made reality harder and harder each time I had to crash back into it.

Carlisle and Esme took us back to the apartment and said their goodbyes. Esme told me that we should get coffee sometime soon and Carlisle even wanted to stop by the bookshop to browse. Edward seemed to be watching their interactions with me very closely. He was quiet as they left and closed the door behind them.

He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest as we stared at each other. It wasn't aggressive or condescending. It was just like we didn't know where to go from here. I wanted to tell him so many things. I wanted to apologize again. I wanted to tell him how much I missed his family. How much I missed him. I wanted to tell him that I wish things were different. How I wish I could go back and change what happened. Everything.

"I…" I started.

"I should get to bed." He locked the door and shuffled down the hallway to his room. I took a deep breath and followed after him, pausing in his doorway for just a moment. He reached behind him and pulled off his shirt as he started to pull back the blankets on his bed.

There was just something about him, especially after tonight. If I'd had more time to process everything that Esme told me, I would have felt everything I was feeling right now back in that restaurant bathroom. I had no idea what he'd done when he left and now that I know everything, my chest ached for the amazing man that he'd become. He had always mentioned going to med school, but I knew a part of him questioned whether he wanted it for him or his father wanted it for him. The fact that he was so selfless at a time when he felt so lost was unbelievable. I always knew how remarkable he was, but it was only now that I was really feeling the weight of it. I was almost speechless. Almost.

"Hey Edward," I mumbled.

"Yeah?" He sat down on the bed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I just wanted to tell you something…" I took a deep breath. "You'd make a phenomenal doctor."

He froze and raised his eyebrows in muted surprise. "Thanks," he said softly.

"Goodnight." I smiled and tapped my fingers lightly against his door frame as I took him in again.

"Goodnight."

I closed my eyes and turned away from him to retreat back to my bedroom. I changed into my pajamas and ran a comb through my hair before I sat down on the edge of the bed. My eyes kept drifting to the box in my closet with our picture.

I finally got up and pulled it down again. I opened it and took our picture out before replacing the box back in its rightful place. I carried the picture back to the bed with me and lay down. I sighed as my eyes washed over our faces again and again. I tucked the picture under my pillow and closed my eyes, hoping I could fall asleep. My brain was too chatty right now and I wanted to avoid that conversation at all costs. What's meant to be will be.


A/N: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter wasn't quite as humorous as the others, but I've gotta have SOME seriousness in here. It can't all be cramps, sticky gum and rainbow underwear ; )

So it looks like Esme's words might have had a big impact on Bella. Will this completely change her relationship with Edward or at least be a stepping stone?

Just an FYI, it's looking more like chapter 12 rather than 11 for the big reveal. I forgot an important chapter when I was laying that out so my apologies, but its only one more chapter.

Big thanks to TwiFicDatabase for choosing my story Love Like Winter as their Pick of the Week this/last week. If you haven't already, you should check out their website for a great review of the story as well as an interview with me.

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing your thoughts. See you next week. : )