Many thanks as always to my dear friends for pre-reading and betaing this one.

I don't own the characters, but I like to play with them.

A huge thank you to all of you who understood why Bella had to do that.


A sudden shrill noise pulled me out of misery.

I realized it was a ringtone…coming from a phone on my bed. Edward's phone. It must have fallen from his pocket, so I grabbed it and saw an odd name on the screen.

Loopy could be Alice, because she's crazy. I answered, bracing myself for explaining why her brother wasn't around.

An agitated girl's voice greeted me. "Where the hell are you? Ali told me you went away to rectify a mistake. Did you finally grow a pair and decide to pull your head out of your ass and talk with Bella?"

"Hi," I said, dazed. "Uh, Bella here… You are?"

She squealed. "Awesome! This is great news! Give me Edward. I've got to congratulate him."

"You see…he's out a little," I mumbled.

"Well, tell him Penelope called and that she's proud of him! I can't wait to actually meet you, Bella. I've heard lots of great things about you!"

I promised I'd tell Edward and that I'd like to meet her too, then hung up feeling awful.

I placed the phone next to me, hugging my knees to my chest, sniffing. If I lost Edward right now…

"What happened?" Jake asked curiously from the doorway, his arms folded over his chest.

My lip trembled as I gazed into his eyes. I glanced at Brady who appeared next to him, looking concerned.

"I told him about us," I explained quietly. "I had to get that off my chest."

"Why would you do such a stupid thing?" Jake groaned. "I thought you wanted him back in your life."

"Stop making me think that he'll leave again. I know he hates me."

"He has no right to be upset with you," Brady told me seriously. "He left you all those years ago, and you simply had fun. You have a right to have fun, and seriously…it could have been Jake!"

Jake looked away. "Don't drag me into this!"

I chuckled despite how I felt. "It could have been anyone, I know, but I always loved Edward. I guess that summer the pain was still raw and I just needed something to distract me."

Brady came to sit next to me. "Aw, babe! Let me have a talk to him. I'll explain what happened and that it didn't really mean anything."

"That's a crock of bull," I muttered. "It meant something, Brady but…" My words died on my lips as I saw Edward in the doorway, his eyes shifted from me and Brady then he gulped visibly.

"Can we talk?" His hand flew to his hair.

"Watch out, dude! If you hurt her, I'm gonna make you suffer," Brady hissed to him, stomping out the room. Jake shook his head, looking amused as he closed the door leaving us alone once again.

"So where did you go?" I asked, not really sure how to broach this subject.

"Just outside the apartment," he admitted, looking at his feet. "I guess I overreacted."

"You guess?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Bella, you have to understand that…" He scratched his jaw. "Listen, I'm having a battle with myself right now…I've no idea what I'll say next. A part of me is angry with you, and the other part is angry with me."

"You have no right to be angry at me! You left. Even though I hoped you'd return, I knew you weren't coming back so I lived my life as best as I knew."

"Exactly!" Edward shouted. "I'm angry at myself for leaving, for making the right choice to protect you…only to have you do all kinds of stupid things. Didn't you promise me not to do anything reckless or stupid?" He looked in pain.

I started getting really angry. "That was me living my life…my little human life!" I yelled. "I rode the dirt bike with Jake, I cliff dived, I rode the Harley with Brady, I made a new friend in Brady which turned out in something else…but it was purely physical." I sprang out of the bed and stalked to him. "Brady wanted me! He made me feel loved and cherished and…he wasn't afraid to touch me! All you've done was pecking my lips. Do you think that's how a teenager's relationship should go?" I kept poking him in the chest as tears streamed down my cheeks. "You're an asshole!"

Thankfully, he didn't have any smart comeback, because whatever feeble excuse he was going to give me, I'd have taken it and shoved it right back in his face.

Sniffing loudly, I pointed to the bed. "Penelope called."

"Bella…" he whimpered, extending his hand as if to touch me, but didn't make contact. "Don't storm out, please. We need to talk about this."

I guessed he felt my need to get out of the room. I was suffocating in here.

Taking a calming breath I grabbed my phone, wallet and keys. "Then let's go to Starbucks. It's around the corner. I need to get out of here," I begged him.

On our way out of the house, I hollered to Jake that we were going out for a while.

We walked side by side, and as we crossed the street Edward put his hand on the small of my back. In the open air, I felt better, my head clearer.

"Go, find a booth, I'll grab the coffee. What would you like to drink?" he asked softly when we stepped inside the store.

"Whatever you get."

"Bella…"

"Caramel Macchiato."

He beamed at me and walked to the counter, while I looked around for a booth. I spotted one at the window, in the far corner. That would do just fine.

When Edward joined me, about fifteen minutes later, he took the seat next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I immediately snuggled into him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, rubbing his thumb over my arm.

"Yeah, me…not." I giggled.

I wanted to ask something that'd been nagging me, but I had no idea how to do it.

"I never thought…" he started saying quietly. "I just hoped that when…if…I got the courage to come back to you…we'll pick up from where we left."

"Do you live in some parallel life where everything is put on hold until your grow up and realize what an idiot you were?"

A look of hurt crossed his face but it was gone quickly.

"Have you…?" I left the question unasked, hoping he'd know what I wanted.

Edward bit his lip, looking away. "Not exactly."

"Are we talking about the same thing?" I checked, picking my coffee and just holding it.

"You're asking me if I've…bedded anyone," he said softly, his cheeks turning red.

Ah, I loved that color on his face. Without thinking, I cupped his cheek and brought his head down kissing him. I wasn't sure why, but I'd missed him so much.

"So?" I murmured against his soft lips.

"Not exactly."

"What does that mean?" I groaned, pulling away, staring at him confused.

"It means that on my twenty first birthday…my siblings took me out and to make the story short I ended up back at Penelope's place. I swear to you that we stopped before…"

"You mean you haven't? Now I feel like a whore," I muttered. "It would have made me feel a lot better knowing I wasn't the only one who slept with someone."

"Bella, I couldn't! She told me that I'm probably the only man on the planet denying sex."

"You most definitely are!" I laughed, taking a sip from my coffee. "Can I ask why you stopped?"

He turned redder. "We…kind of…touched?"

"Yeah?" I prompted him. "I told you what I've done," I reminded him.

"We just touched. She taught me what she liked and uh, this is awkward." He gulped thickly. "When we agreed to go all the way…I couldn't stop thinking of you."

"Jeez. Now I feel all better, because I pushed you out of my thoughts when it happened…you know…with Brady. I'd say I'm sorry, but can't regret that time," I admitted. "But I am sorry for not being able to offer you this first."

"Does this mean…you're giving me a chance?" he asked hopefully.

"Edward, I've been giving you a chance ever since I came to you a few months ago, in March. I still love you. I still want to give us a chance. I want you."

He grinned at me, taking my coffee and placing it on the table before descending for a fierce kiss. "You have no idea how happy you just made me. I love you." He hugged me tightly, kissing my neck. "I'll do it backwards, but can we go out on a date?"

I laughed. "We did date back then. Don't you remember taking me to that restaurant?"

"Oh, right. But I still want to take you out, and enjoy the food too."

"Ah, spoken like a true man! Ruled by the hunger."

He laughed loudly, then sobered looking at me with an odd expression. "I'm not a man…yet."

That made me laugh loudly. "Oh, Edward!" I threw my arms around his neck. "Trust you to make that comment."

"What? It's true." He pecked my temple. "Hmm, can we consider this a date?"

"Of course." I nodded, snuggling better against him.

We drank our coffees and hashed out everything on the Brady-Penelope subject. He didn't have much to tell me, explaining that she was his best friend—much like Alice, and that one time it was awkward for both of them. I explained that I hadn't seen Brady since back then, but we talked a few times over the years. Mostly, I read stuff about him and his acting career from magazines, and what a spectacle he was making of himself.

At some point Alice called to let him know her plan was a go. That was what I heard through the phone because she could be loud, but I had no idea what that meant. Once they hung up, Edward explained to me that she was planning to move South with Jasper, buy a ranch and grow a few animals.

"The call of their Southern blood, I guess," Edward explained, laughing. "You know, she's from Mississippi and he's from Texas."

"Nice. And what does she want?"

"Uh, I promised her to go down there and help with the restoration of the ranch. I went there with him when he bought it, and it's in bad shape."

"Can I come too?" I blurted out, not thinking twice.

"Sure."

Spontaneous actions weren't my thing, but when Edward was involved…I'd follow him anywhere.

He lit up and called Alice back telling her that I'd join them. In just two weeks we had to be there.

Two weeks in which I had to cut all ends here in Seattle. I felt bad for leaving Jake, but he could bring his girlfriend and live with her in our apartment. I also had to find something good to tell Dad.

Ungh.

"What is it?" Edward touched my cheek.

I hadn't realized I said anything. "Dad," I muttered.

His brows knitted in the middle of his forehead. "What about him?"

"I need to tell him where I'm going."

"I bet he'll understand you want to help your old friends."

"Edward…I haven't exactly told him about any of you being back in my life."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh."

"You know what that means?" Edward lifted my chin with a finger to look into my eyes. When I didn't answer, he felt free to continue his thought. "We'll pay him a visit."

"Honey, you're no longer bulletproof. And I just got you back. No offense, but I'd like to keep you alive next to me."

He chuckled. "Don't worry. I've had the speech in my head for years."

"Whatever you say will be held against you," I joked.

"Spoken like a true cops' daughter." He kissed my forehead. "Let me take care of myself."

Later that night when we returned to the apartment I share with Jake, we told both Jake and Brady about my decision. Jokingly they both suggested a bulletproof vest for Edward.

As I was hashing out the details of my sudden departure with Jake, I realized that both Edward and Brady were missing from the room. Jake pointed in the direction of the kitchen. I could hear them talking, and I hoped they wouldn't start throwing punches or worse start a pissing contest.

Edward had changed a lot, his true age playing a great role, even though his gentlemanly nature fought against this new side. So I had no idea what he'd do if provoked.

It turned out that in the time I spent with Jake talking about me leaving, Edward and Brady became friends. I went to them around midnight, ready to ask Edward if he was okay with sleeping in my room, which was pretty stupid, but it was an excuse to see if they were alive in there. They were at the table, drinking beer and chatting about some new singer.

"Hey, guys. I'm glad you get along," I commented, walking to Edward and wrapping my arms around his neck from behind. "Ready for bed?" I whispered in his ear.

I felt the heat from his skin as he blushed. "With you?"

"Well, there's Jake, too. Now it's your decision," I joked.

"The couch is mine. I claimed it long before you arrived," Brady said loudly, slamming his palm to the table.

"Shh!" I hissed. "I have neighbors, you know? The walls are thin."

"Oh, crap." He threw me a small smile. "Anyway…I'll head to my bed…couch. Night." He waved over his shoulder.

"Coming?" I asked Edward.

"Yeah. Are you okay with me sleeping in the same bed?"

"We've done it before." I shrugged, dragging him after me. "Come on, I'm tired."