Hey guys.

Before you read this weeks chapter, I just wanna say a few words regarding the events of the past week. To all of my readers from countries that have been targeted this week, I wanna say on behalf of myself and my other readers that we love you and support you. Stay strong!

Anyway, back to the chapter. This chapter is gonna have a big time-jump but will fill you in on everything :)

Enjoy...

Chapter 10 BPOV

Life Goes On

Everyone always said that college would pass by quickly but I never really believed it. But they were right. It seemed like just yesterday that I was a pale, fresh-faced eighteen year old who moved to the big city to college and now, I was a tan twenty-two year old standing by the side of the stage, ready to receive my degree.

Things had certainly changed in college. Some good, some bad.

My mom and I talked several times a week over the course of my freshman year. Although she was the one that convinced me to go to California, she had a hard time letting me go when it was time to move.

"Be safe, okay," mom said as she gave me a hug. Tears were streaming down both of our cheeks.

"I will."

She pulled back and wiped my cheeks. "Edward, you better take care of my baby."

"I will Mrs Swan. You ready Bella?" I nodded.

Today was the first day of the rest of our lives. Today was the day that we stopped being children and became adults, venturing off into the world of the unknown.

Yep, today was the day we became college students.

After long consideration, and even longer debates with my mom and doctor Sanchez, Edward and I were heading south – well, south of Washington anyway – to the Golden state of California. We were the last to leave, having said goodbye to all of our friends who were heading out to different corners of the country. Alice and Jasper were really headed south and would be attending the University of Texas in the fall. Angela and Ben were off to the big apple to attend NYU and Emmett and Rosalie were going to the windy city to attend Northwestern.

We decided to make our journey to California a road trip so we packed up our things and we about to leave but my mom didn't wanna let me go.

"Mom, we really have to go if we wanna make it to Shasta Lake today."

She nodded and wiped her eyes. "Okay, you're right. Call me as soon as you get there, okay? Promise me."

"I promise," I told her as I gave her one last hug before letting go and climbing into Edward's car.

"You ready?" he asked from beside me.

"Yep. Let's go."

And we were on our way.

However, things changed when I went back the summer before becoming a sophomore.

I walked through the front door and saw a pair of men's sneakers in the hall. I frowned and walked into the living room, finding a strange man sitting in front of the TV watching a Mariners game.

"Who are you?" I said to him.

He stood up and turned the TV off before walking around the couch and stood in front of me. Just then, my mom walked into the room carrying a bowl of popcorn. She looked taken back when she saw me.

"Oh, Bella, sweetie, I thought you were coming home next week?"

I frowned. "Um, Edward and I decided to drive up early. He just dropped me off. Who's this, mom?"

She put the bowl down. "This is Phil. Phil Dwyer."

I immediately recognized his name from a couple years before and looked at my mom in disbelief.

"Please tell me you're friends that are just hanging out." She looked guilty and I gritted my teeth together. "Are you serious?" She started to say something but I held my hand up. "Don't."

I turned around and walked out of the house. Climbing in my car, I hit the wheel with my fists a couple of times before starting it and heading towards the only person who came to mind at times like this.

When I got to Edward's, he and his family were sitting down in the living room. Esme opened the door but didn't say anything as she saw the expression on my face.

She smiled sadly. "He's in the living room," she told me as she opened the front door wider for me to walk through. I ran through with her following me and saw Edward and Carlisle sitting in the living room laughing. They stopped when they saw me and I ran towards him and collapsed in his arms, tears falling down my face.

"What happened? Bella." I didn't answer; just continued to sob on his shoulder. I heard Esme say something and felt Edward shake his head before he lifted me up into his arms and carried me. I didn't know where he was going but I assumed it was his bedroom when he set me down on the bed.

It took a while before I was able to tell him what had happened, and long while before he managed to calm me down enough to realize that my mom moving on wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I thanked him and returned home after apologizing to Esme and Carlisle for interrupting their evening.

I smiled, thinking about the memory as I waited to graduate. I got to know Phil after that and, although no-one could ever replace my dad, I realized he was good for my mom.

They married last year, and had recently adopted a daughter, Vanessa. She was six and had been in care since she was a baby. She, along with Phil, were a good addition to our small family, as difficult as it was to admit it in the beginning. Things had certainly changed since then, as he was now sitting with my mom and new little sister, waiting to see me walk across the stage, along with Edward's parents.

Edward and I became a lot closer after moving down to California. Neither of had ever lived in a big city so it look us both some time to get used to things such as not knowing everyone who lived around us, or hearing noise past nine at night. Those were certainly not things that we had experienced in our hometowns.

Edward and I got really close in the last months of high school so not seeing him every day when we both become busy with college was weird. Especially since he was the only person I actually knew. Although I was one of the lucky people who actually got along with the person I lived with in my freshman year, which made settling in a lot easier.

Kate and I became fast friends and she often hung out with Edward and me, along with her long-time boyfriend Garrett. She reminded me of Alice, Rose and Angela, all rolled into one. She was crazy; the second craziest person I had ever met (after Alice, of course), and was obsessed with shopping. I made a note to never introduce her to Alice the second I met her. She was a gorgeous blonde with long flowing hair, bright blue eyes and a body that made me self-conscious. When Rosalie came to visit the first time, the two of them turned eyes everywhere we met. It was like being friends with two super-models. But, despite her crazy good-looks and impressive fashion sense, she was one of the smartest people I had ever met, much like Angela.

I smiled, thinking about Edward. To say things had changed between us would be a serious understatement. I smiled, thinking to the day that changed everything back in sophomore year.

I woke up to a knock at the door. It was September thirteenth, my birthday. And I just happened to have the day off from college so I got to sleep in. well, I would have if whoever at the door hadn't have shown up. I climbed out of bed slowly, silently cursing the person on the other side of the door. I opened it and saw Edward standing on the other side.

"Edward, what the fuck? It's nine in the morning."

"Sorry. Happy birthday." He at least had the decency to look guilty so I rolled my eyes and let him into the apartment.

"Coffee?" I asked. He nodded so I walked into the kitchen and poured out two cups from the pot that Kate must have made before she left.

The two of us decided that we liked living together so we got a small apartment together just off campus.

Edward and I finished our coffee. "Go and get dressed."

"Why?"

"Because I've got a whole day planned." I began to say something but he stopped me. "Don't argue. Just go get ready. Nothing dressy; just casual."

I frowned but did what he said. I changed into a pair of shorts and my Kansa City Royals t-shirt. I put my black converse on and walked back out to Edward.

"Okay, let's go," I said as I grabbed my keys.

"Right, first up; breakfast. I'm starving."

We made our way to the small café we ate at on our first day in California. It had kind of become our place over the past year. We enjoyed our amazing breakfast and Edward paid before we waved goodbye to the owners and left.

"Where next?"

He took me on a tour of Universal Studies; something I had been wanting to do since we moved to LA. We got home at around six and I found Kate all dressed up in the living room.

"Hey, happy birthday. Did you two have a nice day?"

"Oh my God, it was the best. I had so much fun. Thank you, Edward." I hugged him tightly.

"It's not over yet. I'll be back to pick you up in an hour." And with that he left.

Kate walked over and grabbed my hand, dragging me into her room. "Come on we've only got an hour."

She curled my hair and did my makeup before making me change into a beautiful strapless dress and a pair of silver sandals.

"Where am I going? And where are you going?" I asked her as she gave me a pair of earrings to put on.

"It's a surprise. And I'm going with you."

There was a knock on the door and we walked out of her room. She opened the door and Edward and Garrett walked in.

"You girls look amazing. You ready to go?" Edward asked. Kate nodded excitedly while I frowned.

We left the apartment and got into a cab. We headed uptown to a restaurant where we were led into a private room by the waitress. Inside the room were my mom and friends.

"Oh my God, what are you all doing here?"

"Edward brought us into town. He wanted it to be a surprise," my mom said as she hugged me tightly.

"You didn't think we'd miss your twentieth birthday, did you?" Alice asked.

I hugged them all and we sat down to enjoy a nice dinner. It reminded me of my eighteenth birthday, but with the addition of two great friends.

When dinner was finished and I had unwrapped all of my gifts, it was time to leave. They all said goodbye and headed back to the hotels they were staying in for the night before heading back to school, or home in my mom case. Garrett and Kate were heading back to Garrett's place so they hugged us goodbye while Edward and I climbed into a different cab to my place.

We got out and Edward walked me to the door of my building.

"Thank you so much for today, Edward. This has been the best birthday."

He smiled. "I'm glad you had fun."

"I really did." I threw my arms around his neck.

We hugged tightly before pulling away from each other slowly and stared into each other's eyes for a moment. I slowly leaned in and pressed my lips against his. He pulled back.

"What was that?"

I took a deep breath. "I guess that was my way of telling you I'm ready to try."

He looked hopeful. "Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm always gonna be messed up over what happened. And I'm gonna have good days, and bad days where I'm not gonna wanna talk to you, or to anyone…" he cut me off.

"Bella, I've been dealing with that for three years as your friend. I'm more than happy to deal with that as…more than friends."

I smiled. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He didn't reply as he pulled me closer, our lips meeting in the middle.

Edward and I had been together ever since, and it had been the best two and a half years of my life. Things weren't always easy, but we always overcame whatever the problem was.

"Isabella Swan," the Dean said, and it was my turn to walk across the stage. I shook his hand and my diploma was handed to me. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, sir," I told him with a large smile.

He let go of my hand and I walked across the stage. I heard the cheers of my family and smiled before walking off of the stage.

When the ceremony was over, I managed to find my family who hugged me tightly. My mom sobbed.

"My baby is a college graduate! I can't believe it." She pulled away and held my face in her hands. "Your dad would be so proud of you, baby."

I felt my eye well up and she pulled me in for another hug. She pulled away again and let me go so that the others could hug me as well. Phil gave me a small one-armed hug and said congratulations and I picked up Vanessa who was standing by my mom and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Congratlations." I laughed at her cute little mispronunciation and held her tight.

"Thanks, sweetie."

I felt an arm wrap around me and turned to see Edward's familiar crooked smile. I put Vanessa down, who ran straight to Phil – she was a daddy's girl, just like I had been – and put an arm around Edward's neck.

"We did it, babe." I smiled widely and he pressed his lips to mine.

They're finally together! 'Bout time right?

What did you all think? Did we like the way they got together? And how about Bella's birthday? What do we think of Kate? Please review and let me know :)

So the story's winding down now guys. Only one more chapters and then we have a flashback or two, plus a little peek into Edward's mind :)

Thanks for reading guys, see you next time :)

xoxo

RKandCarrieFan