A/N: You, my perceptive lovelies, have probably noticed I changed the name of the story a little. Angelznight3000 said that the story reminded her of an Alicia Keys song of the same title. I've never heard the song, but the title has a nice ring to it! Okay, enough talking. Next chapter.

Chapter 9: Take A Long Drive With Me

The Sunday of the last week of August, I awoke to Alice shaking me. "Bella, it's almost time to leave. Are you going to get up any time soon?" she asked.

"I…don't wanna," I said, rolling onto my stomach.

"My brother is loading the car, and he said if you are not down in ten, he's coming up."

"Oh, I am so scared," I said, covering my head with the blanket.

Alice let out a roar of frustration and slammed the door behind her. I heard her tiny feet pounding on the stairs and groaned. It was way too early to be leaving. I was just about asleep once more when I heard a chuckle. I removed the pillow from under my head and threw it at the source of the noise. He caught it and grinned evilly. "So, you're not scared, eh?"

"Not the least bit," I said, covering my head once more.

He sighed and ripped the cover from on top of me and replaced it with his own body. He pinned my hands up by my head and straddled my legs. "Get off of me," I said angrily.

"Ugh, Bella, your breath is rank. I think it's singed my nose hairs," he said rolling off of me.

I clasped a hand over my mouth a shot him a death glare as he laughed merrily. I ran to the bathroom and yelled, "I absolutely hate you, Cullen!"

He opened the door and leaned on the door frame. "You have no problem expressing your hatred for me, but telling me you love me, impossible."

I looked at the sink as I brushed my teeth, really not wanting to talk about it. He moved to stand behind me and grabbed my hips. "Why is that?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, Edward."

"Yes, you do. Otherwise you'd be able to say it to me."

I sighed and capped the toothpaste. "Edward, why do we have to talk about it?" I asked.

"Because, you had no problem telling me the first time. But now, nothing."

"Why do you need me to tell you, then? If you already know?" I asked him, still avoiding his gaze as I packed up my personals bag.

"Because I'd like to hear it once in a while," he said angrily, hurt entering his tone now.

"But I've told you already. I love you. There, are you happy?" I said.

"No. Now I feel like I'm forcing you to say it," he said, walking to his door. "Be downstairs in five or your ass gets left behind."

He left me upstairs, feeling like shit. I really didn't know why I was incapable of saying it. The last time I had told someone I loved them, it was my father, and I was thirteen. And look how that turned out…

Why was I even comparing that situation? Edward was my lifelong soul mate, my love, my everything. And my father was a drunken imbecile. I gathered the rest of my things and stuffed them into my messenger bag as I went downstairs. Edward was sitting in the front seat of his car, brooding. I slid in next to him and looked at my hands. He stayed silent and turned his face toward his house. "Edward," I started, and he still refused to look at me, "I'm sorry I can't say it to you."

He looked pained. "I don't understand why."

"Neither do I. But I do, just remember that."

"But I want to hear you say it. I want you to admit it out loud," he said, looking at his lap.

"I love you, Edward," I said, finally letting it out.

His eyes brightened a little and he nodded, but he didn't give in, knowing that I wouldn't be telling him this if we hadn't been arguing about it.

Alice and Jasper decided they wanted to ride with Emmett and Rosalie, because of the incredible amount of leg room Emmett's jeep had in comparison to Edward's Volvo. I couldn't say I was as particularly as thrilled about it this morning as I was last night. Edward and I hadn't been in a tiff last night. We had enjoyed each other's company at the movies and a small diner. We had shared ice cream and made out in his car in the garage before we snuck through the window. And now, we were sour with each other because I am an insensitive bitch. Great. What an excellent eleven hour ride this will be.

We followed Emmett's jeep onto the highway. Edward was still stern and silent. His face was twisted into a look of immense irritation and I sighed. "Can we turn on the radio?" I asked.

He flipped it on and leaned back once more. One of our favorite songs came on and I sang along, waiting for him to start too. After the song ended and he still hadn't opened his mouth, I touched his arm. "Edward, please talk to me."

"About what?" he asked.

"I don't know. But I don't want it to be so quiet. It's driving me crazy."

He sighed. "Fine then." But that's all he said.

I was going to hit him if he kept this up. "I meant let's talk."

"Go ahead," he said, waving a hand.

"Edward, you don't need me to tell you that I love you. You know that I do, that I always have, even though I have to admit it was platonic until recently. You should also know that I'll love you forever, whether we remain friends or something happens to separate us."

He looked at me, worried. "Why would that happen. My life is where you are."

"We don't know what will happen."

He nodded knowingly. "Yes I do. We are going to go to college, get respectable jobs, you're going to have my children--tons of accident prone Cullens-- and we are going to grow old together and be happy."

I smiled at the thought. "You're confident in your beliefs."

"Because, I know that I love you--forever. And as you feel the same, we'll always stay by each other's sides."

I smiled. "I love you, too."

He grinned, our argument forgotten now that he heard the sincerity behind my words. "It's nice to hear."

I leaned in and kissed his cheek lightly. "I hate when we fight like that."

"I know. Last time we fought, we were fourteen and you were pissed that I beat you at the Mario game."

I laughed. "Ah, to be fourteen."

"I hated fourteen. That was a horrible time."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"That's when I wanted you the most in my lifetime, up until then. Puberty was frustrating me, I wanted to tell you how I felt, ugh…what a lame, incredibly hard time."

I laughed at the unintentional pun. He caught on and snickered. "I didn't mean hard like that…though… it was certainly that kind of hard as well…"

"Was?" I teased.

"Was. Still is. Whatever," he said, smiling.

"Ah, teenage hormones," I said happily, glad we were being normal again.

"Are you saying you never felt anything remotely close to frustrating desire?" he asked, switching lanes as Emmett did.

"Not until recently, when I saw you half-naked."

"Half-naked?" he asked.

"I've noticed you love to walk to your bathroom in your underwear."

He had a wicked smile on his face. "You enjoying the sight, then?" he asked.

"Hell yes I am."

He laughed and ruffled my hair. At noon, it was time to take a gasoline and lunch break. We'd been on the road for five hours, and still had six more to go. After we made up, Edward and I sang loudly to annoying songs and danced. When we pulled up next to Emmett at a red light, Edward and I were dancing to 'Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch.' The four in the jeep looked at us as though we were crazy, and Emmett made the motion with his arm like he was rolling down an old fashioned window with a crank. Edward rolled down the window and leaned across me. "What?"

Emmett motioned to a small diner-slash-gasoline-station. "Let's eat there. I'm hungry enough to eat a damn bear."

We laughed and followed him into the parking lot. When we went in, Emmett and Alice were arguing. "Will you shut up Alice. I cannot drive any faster, or I will get pulled over. If that happens, I'll let you explain to the officer how you forced me to speed so that you could get to a secluded area in order to be with your boyfriend in private."

Alice blushed and harrumphed. "You are one sorry piece of-"

"Well, what a happy bunch we are. Clearly being in such close contact isn't helping. I don't think we'll last a week without bloodshed," Jasper said, sitting at the counter in the diner.

We ate, making jokes, Edward and I trying to diffuse the situation between his siblings. Before long, we were back on the road for the second half of the trip. I was suddenly tired after we ate, so I turned down the radio and laid back in my seat. Edward allowed his hand to roam over my covered body as I huddled underneath the thin blanket. "Why are you sleeping," he asked. "It's only the afternoon."

"Yeah, but I was woke up at five. And if you'll remember, we didn't do as much sleeping as we did kissing."

He smiled but said nothing and I closed my eyes. While my mind fell into a deep slumber, I had a dream about our future together.

EPOV

Bella had finally said it to me, with feeling. I never got why she couldn't say it after that initial time, but when she said it in the car after an hour of my ignoring her, she said it with so much sincerity. And now, I watched as she slept, remembering her lips as they formed the three sweet words.

Bella really had no idea of the effect of her presence on me. Sure, I had loved being with her when we were young. But now, now I needed to be with her, I needed to keep our bodies touching in any way possible, needed to feel her smooth skin in contact with mine. I was beginning to think I needed her more than air.

She was so beautiful, even though she never really believes me when I tell her. If only I could make her believe me.

BPOV

I must have seriously fallen asleep, because I woke up as we were driving down a long, winding road at the edge of a cliff. Edward's expert driving didn't have me worried, but the close proximity to the side of said cliff, and the impending 300 foot drop did. I looked out over the water, the Pacific Ocean, at the sunset. I knew we had to be nearing Jasper's grandfather's summer house some time soon. A sign we passed read: Eureka 10 mi.

"Hey, there. You've been out for a while," Edward said, automatically grabbing my hand.

"Told you I was tired. How much longer do you think?"

"Fifteen minutes, maybe? I'm not really sure," he said, turning onto a road and following Emmett's jeep down a long dirt road.

The road was beautiful, with lush vegetation on both sides. Not that I hadn't seen enough vegetation back in Forks, but still… When the trees and bushes finally broke, a large valley spread out before us, with an enormous house in the center. Rows and rows of grape vines spread out as far as I could see, the setting sun giving everything a rosy golden tint. The house, an Italian-style mansion, was the biggest house I had ever seen. Then again, I lived in Forks. The scene looked like something straight out of Tuscany. "The house is on a vineyard?" I asked, awed by the beauty of nature.

Edward smiled. "Yeah. It's really quite beautiful isn't it?"

"Yeah it is. I was expecting some beach bungalow or something," I said, still in awe as Emmett's jeep made it's way through a cloud of dirt along the road.

"I knew Jasper's family was in the wine business, so I kind of expected something like this."

"You know Alice is going to drag us to the beach anyway."

Edward nodded and parked the car. We got out, and I was more excited than I had been in quite a while. "Jasper, this house is gorgeous!" I said.

He smiled. "My grandfather fell in love with the vineyards of Italy and grew inspired. This came about shortly there after," he said, waving a hand out behind him at the vast land.

"How about a tour of the inside," Alice said happily.

Everyone was stretching their sore bodies and each made a noise of approval. Jasper grabbed Alice's hand and went up the long path that led to the front door. The path was surrounded by beautiful flowers and towering plants. I was surely in Heaven. A slight chill blew through the air and I shivered ever so slightly. Edward wrapped an arm around me and Jasper opened the door. He flicked the switch and I felt my jaw drop.

The house was even more amazing on the inside than it appeared from the outside. A chandelier, as big around as Edward's Volvo hung above the entrance hall, swaying ever so slightly. A grand staircase led up to our right, and a room, what appeared to be the living room, stretched beyond the entrance hall. Art hung everywhere--pictures of Italian villas, vineyards, autumn scenes, scenes of nature. To our left was one of the house's fireplaces, taller than I was and intricately designed and adorned with marble flowers, brushed with gold. "Jasper, holy Jesus. This place is amazing," Emmett said.

"Let's go up to the bedrooms, shall we?" he said, going up the stairs.

He opened the first door, and I squealed. I literally squealed. The bed in the center was a gigantic California king, with four posters and a canopy of purple silk. The bed covers were a deep royal purple satin, stitched with gold and silver thread. On the posters of the bed, carvings of grapes and vineyards were intricately made. The mirror above the dresser was plated with a rustic gold brush, and I marveled at it, as Edward stood behind me and marveled at me reflection. I went to the sliding glass doors and gave another squeal of pleasure. A large balcony, overlooking acres and acres of vineyard was attached to the room. And that wasn't even the best part. A hot tub sat to one side. "I call this room," I said happily and Jasper laughed.

"All right then. The rest of us can go find some rooms."

I went and belly flopped onto the marvelous bed. "I am in love with this house!"

Edward laughed and sat on the bed. He began taking off his shoes and groaning. "We'll definitely be putting that hot tub to use this week."

I made a murmur of agreement sleepily. "I'm going to take a shower," he said, and he walked into the bathroom.

I heard him let out a low whistle. "This bathroom is bigger than my bedroom at home."

I laughed and got up to unpack my clothing as the water started. It didn't take long, seeing as I had only packed a few outfits. I changed out of my disgusting driving clothes and into a thin wife beater tank top and tiny black shorts, ready for sleep once more. Riding in a car all day can certainly make one exhausted. I climbed beneath the sheets to discover they too were made of a fine satin. I may very well stay in bed the whole week we're here.

Finally, I felt Edward slid into the bed next to me, his body fresh smelling, his hair wet. I wished I had the energy to get up and take a shower, but I didn't. He wrapped an arm around me and sighed into my neck. "Night, love."

"Night," I said.

It didn't take long before his breathing grew heavy. Though my body was thoroughly exhausted, my mind was active. I sat awake for more than an hour, trying desperately to shut my brain off and fall asleep. Realizing It was a lost cause, I slid ever so carefully out from underneath the covers and Edward's arm, trying hard not to wake him. He deserved to rest his eyes after staring at a road for eleven hours.

I slipped out the sliding door noiselessly and went to lean on the balcony. The air was warm, with only the slightest hint that fall was on its way. That slight hint was enough to make me shiver, but I paid it no mind. I leaned down and turned on the hot tub, wanting desperately to warm myself. I leaned against the banister once more as I waited for the water to heat up, closing my eyes as the slight breeze blew over my face and ruffled my hair.

Finally, I stuck a foot in the water and it was warm enough, and so, I slid off my shorts and climbed in in my underwear. I sank into the warm water, relaxing instantly. I heard the door slide open and light footsteps. "Hey, what are you doing out here?" came the velvet voice I so loved.

I opened my eyes to find him standing before me in his underwear, his arms crossed before him as he fought off a chill. I sighed and smiled. "Trying out the hot tub," I replied.

He came to sit next to me, dangling only his feet into the water. "Why don't you get in?" I asked.

"In my underwear?" he asked.

I motioned to myself and my scantily clad body, and instantly regretted it. I blushed and tried to cover my bare thighs. I looked through the cracks in the banister, out into the pitch black night, and felt Edwards body slid into the water next to me. "Why do you do that?" he asked.

"Do what?" I asked, not wanting to look him in the eyes.

He put a hand under my chin and forced my eyes to his. "You are absolutely beautiful, Bella. I wish you wouldn't hide yourself."

I blushed once more and he smiled. His lips were on mine before I knew it, fierce and pleading. I felt his hand under my shirt, over my back and stomach, searching endlessly. I moved my hand to his chest, touching it lightly. He groaned slightly, moving his lips to my neck.

I knew what was to come, and I was ready and willing. I wanted Edward, all of him, here and now. And I was going to get what I wanted.

O.O.O.O

Another chapter. I made the house on a vineyard instead of the ol' cliché beach house. I love nature and think vineyards are gorgeous, especially in the fall when the leaves change colors. Ah, anyway. A review would be lovely.