A/N: We're back! We delayed this update slightly so that we could post it for the "Grateful to the Readers" day that was spearheading, because we love our readers.

You know who else we love? Kassiah and Ninapolitan who rec'd this little fic over on 'The Fictionators' last week! We were so shocked and flattered, that we may have curled up in a ball and cuddled, had we been in the same country. LOL.

We don't own Twilight; but yesterday was Risbee's birthday, so head on over to P.I.C's Fan Fic Corner to check out the lovely gifts she received. Check out picffcorner(dot)blogspot(dot)com for all the specifics.

BPOV

Leaving Edward in the parking lot at the airport had been the hardest thing I had ever done, though I know it would have been even harder if I had made the decision to leave for eight weeks without him knowing how I truly felt. It was tough and painful and heart wrenching, but I couldn't let it put a damper on my trip because that wouldn't have been fair to either one of us. So instead I went through the automatic doors alone, a giant swirling mass of emotions with two overstuffed suitcases and a carry on bag.

Mom and dad were waiting by the ticket counter as I walked into the airport, dragging my luggage behind me. Bless her heart, Renee knew something was up but didn't press when I didn't offer up any information. Instead she just wrapped her arms around me and let me sink into her while Charlie took my bags to the counter and checked me in. She was flighty as hell but when it was game time, she was the best mom I could have ever asked for.

"Go and live Bella. Make the most out of these weeks. Think about all the wonderful times that are ahead of you and we'll all be right here waiting for you when you get back. Now go hug your father goodbye and let him off the hook. He's been trying to figure out what to say to you all afternoon. See...you're making his moustache twitch," she gestured over to where Charlie was shifting his weight from one leg to the other and fidgeting with his keys. Poor guy.

I walked over to him and gave him a big hug, effectively taking the responsibility of what to do or say off of his shoulders. "You remember where the extra key is, right?" I asked him and gestured towards mom, knowing she'd lock herself out at least three times while I was gone. He took my boarding pass from the ticket agent and handed it to me before picking up my carry on bag and putting it over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know and I made two extra copies last week just in case," he laughed as he punched my arm playfully. "Let's go kid." We started walking toward security and with each step I could feel my excitement growing. I got to the point of no return and put my bag on the conveyor belt. I took off my shoes and put my silver bracelet from Edward in the little tray and watched it go into the x-ray machine. Just as I stepped through the security gate, my eyes started to fill with tears. I turned to get one last hug and then I heard it.

"Hey, Swan, you big stud!"

No...she's not.

"That's me, honey."

Et tu, Charlie?

"Take me to bed or lose me forever."

Ewwwwwwwwww

"Show me the way home, honey."

I cringed and waved to them behind me, not willing or able to make eye contact. Suddenly I couldn't wait to get on that plane.

The flight to Seattle passed in a blur as I listened to all the music Edward had added to my ipod and documented the days events in my new journal. Well, most of the day's events. Some of them I wanted to keep private. We had about an hour and a half layover in Seattle before the flight to JFK, so as soon as I got to the chairs by the gate, I pulled out my phone to text Edward and let him know what was going on.

I'm in Seattle. Miss you already. ~B

I miss you too. 56 days to go. ~E

I'll be home before you know it ~B

I'll be here waiting ~E

I know. I need to go. They're boarding the flight to NY ~B

Call me when you get there. ~E

Are you sure? It will be late. ~B

I'm sure. ~E

K. I love you ~B

Love you too B ~E

I sent a quick text to Angela telling her goodbye and an email to mom and dad because if they didn't answer right away, I didn't want to think about why. As it was, Top Gun was forever ruined for me.

"Here goes nothing," I said to nobody in particular. I grabbed my bag, handed my boarding pass to the ticket agent standing at the gate and took one more long look out to the Washington night sky before taking a deep breath and boarding the plane. I was on my way.

Thankfully, I was able to sleep for most of the flight across the country. I was a little worried at first because the woman in the seat beside me started to show me pictures of her cats and tell me all about her grandchildren, but once the pilot started with all the safety precautions she stopped talking and I took the opportunity to put on my headphones, pull out a book and pretend to read. She got the hint soon enough and eventually fell asleep herself. All in all, I was lucky that I didn't end up stuck beside some guy with onion breath and jock itch.

It was about 2 in the morning Forks time when we got to JFK, and I hated to wake Edward, but I promised I'd call. I needed to call and hear his voice because who knew when I'd hear it again. There was no doubt in my mind that we'd talk while I was gone, but I didn't want to smother him and the time difference didn't help matters. When he answered the phonehis voice was all sleepy and husky, which made my stomach do somersaults with need. I couldn't wait until I could experience that voice in person and I didn't waste the opportunity to let him know.

As I was talking to him, my eyes noticed the strangest thing I had ever seen. There was a girl, who looked about my age, walking down the concourse texting, while holding what looked like a book that was titled 'The Joy of Chickens' under her arm and one of those invisible dog leashes in her other hand. Before I could figure out if she was some sort of ad lib character actor, or if someone in this airport was being punked, she sat down in a chair and pulled a packet of information out of her bag that looked suspiciously like the one I had in my own bag.

For whatever reason, I was drawn to her, so of course I did the only logical thing, I said my tearful goodbye to Edward, turned off my phone before I could call him back again, and walked over to introduce myself.

"Excuse me," I said, sitting down in the empty seat beside her. "Are you part of the Summer Exchange program heading to London tonight?" I looked out the window and saw that the sun was starting to rise on the horizon. "Well, I guess this morning?"

She looked up at me and stared blankly for a good minute before answering, "Me?"

I looked around because we were the only two people in this particular section of seats, so I thought I was pretty obvious that I meant her, but I went along with it. "Yes, you. I'm Bella." I held out my hand and I'll be damned if she didn't hand me the leash.

"Thanks," she said. "I'm Nettie. Do you mind helping me with Magoo? I wasn't sure how I was going to manage to get on the plane with everything I have to carry." She honestly looked relieved and I did a double take to make sure there really wasn't a dog attached to the leash. From there the conversation flowed smoothly and when they called for boarding, I did what I had to and carried that gaudy pink leash onto the plane, ignoring the confused looks of the flight attendants and making sure that 'Magoo' was safely stowed under Nettie's seat before finding my own seat two rows back.

The flight from JFK to Heathrow was uneventful and when we met up with the other students in the program at the Exchange headquarters later that day, it turned out that Nettie the enigma was also my roommate and she was a godsend.

Im not going to lie, the first few days were tough. I went to my classes and enjoyed them for the most part, but I spent all my downtime writing in my journal, emailing Edward or looking for him on chat. I answered emails from my parents and from Angela, but didn't really initiate any communication with them, because it was just too hard, especially at night which is when I found myself missing my family and Edward the most.

I did make a concerted effort to keep myself busy when I could. I took advantage of sightseeing trips within the program and went to see some amazing theatrical performances. I took part in extra curricular classes, seminars and got to know the other students. My heart just wasn't truly in it and I was starting to get frustrated because I knew I was wasting the opportunity that I had worked so hard for in the first place. So again, Nettie was a godsend.

I don't know quite how she did it, but she managed to bring enough stuff from home to actually decorate our dorm room. It looked oddly enough like the inside of the genie bottle from I Dream of Jeannie. How the hell did she pack all those pillows in two bags? Anyway, it didn't take long for me to figure out that while Nettie was academically brilliant, she had absolutely no common sense. At all. None. Still, she made me smile constantly...when I wasn't having to teach her how to get down from the top bunk in our room or remind her that she had on two different shoes. However that was just part of her charm. She was quirky and fun and weird and I envied her 'lassiez les bon temps roullez' attitude. We got lost on campus and found ourselves in the most random situations, but when I was with her, it was okay. She was like my own personal Monana and kept my mind off the hard stuff, or at least she tried. Most of her efforts went unrewarded until the afternoon, two weeks into the program, whe she walked into our room with a plastic bag from a local drug store and changed everything.

"Random fact of the day: In Bali, men believed a woman would fall in love if her suitor fed her a certain kind of leaf incised with the image of a god who sported a very large penis. Now come over here. You need purple highlights."

I stared at her, my mouth agape as this whirling dervish of a girl came in the room and just took over. She was wearing jean shorts and a Jessie and the Rippers t-shirt and some knee socks with toes. Very typical. "Nettie, I..."

"Bella just stop. I've given you two weeks to get yourself straight and I swear, if I hear one more muffled sob in the middle of the night or see you log on to your computer at 4:30 in the morning just to see if your boyfriend is online, because yes, I saw you do it, I'm going to scream. I see you during the day and you're alive, but at night it's like you die a little. You're missing out on everything and I can't let that happen anymore. Have fun. All the cool kids are doing it."

Before I could come up with a reason to protest, she grabbed my hand, pulled me out of my chair and away from my laptop where I was hoping Edward would log on even though I knew it was 4 in the morning in Washington. She shoved my face towards the bottom of the sink in our room and went to work, only leaving my side once to turn queue up her massive list of They Might Be Giants songs on her iTunes. I had to give her credit, the girl had mad style.

An hour later, I had purple streaks and she had also managed to convnce me to get my belly button pierced, though it wasn't her first choice. I was scared of her second choice, though I did say I would prefer to have it hidden. I guess I wasn't specific enough about my hard limits. Her third choice was thankfully in the middle...literally and figuratively. Two days later it was done and I haven't looked back since.

I couldn't wait to get online with Edward and let him know what had happened over the past few days. I could tell he was worried about me, not so much because I let him know that I was so miserable without him, but he knew me so well and I could see my own heartfail reflected in his words and in his eyes the few times we'd managed to be online at the same time. Which was exactly twice. I was going to try my damnedest to find him tonight though. We both needed it.

Before I could log on however, Nettie burst through the door and I knew just from the look on her face that she had something up her sleeve. "Bella! We're going out tonight. There's an open mic night down at Hope and Anchor tonight and Liam and Randall are performing. You can't say no."

I was actually pretty excited about the prospect of going because I'd heard the guys singing in their room down the hall and they actually sounded pretty good. Plus, it was Friday and it would be nice to get out for a bit and unwind. The professors had humored us long enough and had started to really buckle down on their course work. Technically the drinking age was 18, but we usually didnt have a problem getting a beer or two, which is all I wanted anyway. There would be no 'I'm On A Boat' repeat performances for me anytime soon. I was completely willing to leave the entertainment to somebody else. "Are Tia and Makenna going too?"

"Yeah, I think most of us are going. How soon can you be ready?"

"Well, I wanted to see if I could catch Edward online here in a bit. I know that he had to work today, so I'm pretty sure he's exhausted. He hasn't seen my hair and now that the swelling has gone down, I thought I'd show him the piercing too."

"Does Edward have a beard?" she asked as she started to put her hair in braids.

"Um...no...why?" I asked as I turned on my computer and waited for it to boot up.

"Because a man's beard grows fastest when he anticipates sex." She looked at me like I should have totally known that already, but I'd come to expect her random facts of knowledge. She would totally kick ass on Jeopardy one day, if only she could pass any sort of psychological testing. Hell, now I knew that 'sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick' is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language. If anybody ever asked me, I was totally prepared. Though if Edward showed up online with a beard, I was totally going to freak the fuck out.

"Oh, and don't have cyber sex when I'm in the room, okay. I don't mind if you need me to leave. Just let me know first." I looked behind me to see if she was serious and almost choked on my tea. Yes, I was drinking tea. When in Rome and all that. During the few minutes I had turned my back to her, she had started to change her clothes and some how had gotten so tangled up in her shirts that she was in an improvised straight-jacket. I laughed and walked over to help her out of her fabric prison, patting her on the head when she was free. Sweet girl.

"I think you're safe for tonight, Net. We've only had sex once and honestly I can't imagine doing that with Edward. Not now anyway. I'd totally start laughing and ruin the moment."

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit, Bella. You're a total seductress. I know these things," she said with a wink.

"Don't you have to go walk Magoo before we all leave," I reminded her as I started to log on to chat. Holy shit. He was there!

"Put a sock on the door Bella, but not one of my pink knee socks with the hearts. I'm wearing those tonight."

"Of course you are Nettie. Of course you are. Listen, tell the others to give me about an hour and I'll be ready to go." She waved and walked out to figure out what the plans were. I turned back to my computer and clicked on Edward's user name. God I missed him so much.

EPOV

This sucked.

Plain and simple, there was no other way to say it; it sucked. Bella was gone, most likely half way to Sea-Tac by the time I got home. We had exchanged a quick text message or two before she left, but I already missed her. My mother was standing in the kitchen and came towards the door when I got there, but I simply waved her off and stalked up the stairs to my bedroom. I toed off my shoes and tossed myself onto the bed, staring at the ceiling and realized I felt empty.

I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and typed a quick message to Bella letting her know that I missed her already, that I hoped she had a safe flight and asked her to call me from New York. She was supposed to be meeting several other students at JFK, but I was hopeful that she could find five minutes before she boarded to call me. I didn't even care if it was going to be 4 in the morning, I was already eager to hear her voice again.

When I tossed my phone onto my nightstand, I curled up onto my side, facing the window and began to recall the events of the day. I was still remorseful for having left her room the night before, but I really thought I wouldn't have gotten to her before she left. I was shocked to find her pulling away as I got there, and even more surprised when she admitted that she was in love with me too. None of this 'just like a friend' shit either. She was 'in love' with me.

Holy fuck… our first time was on her mother's fucking Toyota. What the hell was I thinking?

"Edward, are you alright?" my mother asked, stepping lightly into my room, practically scaring the shit out of me. I wiped the tears that had formed from my eyes and sat up anxiously. "She'll be back soon."

"She loves me," I said stoically as my mother's eyes grew wide in excitement and she sat down on my bed beside me.

"I knew it. Renee and I always said you two would end up together. We thought you might have figured it out sooner, but better late than never," she rambled on as I gave her a small smile. "What's wrong though? She loves you. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yeah… but she's gone. It hasn't even been that long since I saw her last and it's like half of me is missing," I declared as I ran my fingers through my hair and my mother regarded me with sympathy in her eyes. "Fuck, I'm so pathetic."

"First of all, watch your language. Secondly, you are not pathetic. You are in love, and if our phone bill happens to be a little high while your girlfriend is off in Europe, your father doesn't have to know," she stated cheerfully with a wink. "You'll talk to her before you know it, but it does you no good to mope and be upset. You've known this was coming for a week; you did what you could to show her that you loved her and it worked. Now focus on getting through the next eight weeks, talk to her as much as you can and focus on yourself. Bella is taking care of herself right now, so you should do the same."

"I know you are being logical, but right now, it's like I don't even care. Is it wrong I just wanna curl up in bed with a picture of her and hibernate for eight weeks?"

"Yes, because that would be pathetic and you are not a bear."

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious mom."

"Edward, I'm giving you till tomorrow morning to sulk and mope about this, but tomorrow you need to focus on getting through your time apart like a man. You start your job on Monday, and things will be easier from then on. Now… are you hungry?"

"No."

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Beer?"

"No."

"Then I'm fine."

My mother rose from the bed and headed towards my bedroom door, picking up some clothes from the floor in the process and tossed them into my hamper. "Why don't you spend the next little while cleaning your room? Maybe you could find the floor," she stated with a laugh as I watched her walk out the door and I laid back down on the bed, grabbing my cell phone and clutching it in my hand, hoping against hope that Bella would call me soon. Sure enough, before her flight left Seattle, she managed a few minutes to text me to let me know she was alright before she had to board.

Bella called pretty late that night, well early the next morning in New York City. She sounded sad and when she had to go because her flight was boarding, I swore I even heard her sniffle on the other end. I really hoped she wasn't crying about our situation, so I reassured her that I loved her and would be waiting with open arms when she got back. She sounded somewhat at ease when we got off the phone, but I think I was reassuring myself more than her with my final comments.

I slept like shit that night, and again for the next two weeks after that. I threw myself into my work, which was mundane and involved doing some general gardening work for the Town of Forks. However, it wasn't that easy to mow a lawn when it was fricking raining, so the work was sporadic. I ended up working with two really cool guys named Benjamin and Max, both of whom were older than me by a few years and were home from college for the summer. When we were done mowing, trimming and making the town look pretty each day, we usually went to the diner for drinks and to shoot the shit.

Max was a student at Purdue University for mechanical engineering and Benjamin was going to the University of Portland in Oregon, with actual plans of going into landscape architecture, so for him this job was like a paid internship. Both guys were single, and simply scoffed at the fact that I was going through a long distance relationship, but when I showed them a picture of Bella that I found on my phone from a few days before graduation, they simply patted me on my back for landing a girl who was so good looking. I felt somewhat smug, but then I went back to missing Bella.

Even though spending time with Max, Benjamin and even Emmett, who was working down at Target in Port Angeles for the summer as a stock boy, would take my mind off of Bella for a little bit, but she was always my foremost thought morning, noon and night. We talked on the phone as much as we could, but it wasn't as much as I would have liked. She emailed me everyday though, and thanks to the time difference, I usually got them when I got home from work. Sometimes I was even lucky enough to find her online, like on her third Friday in Europe, when I was feeling particularly lonely without her by my side and I had gotten off work at lunch time because the rain wouldn't let up.

TheBigE.C.: Hey Beautiful

I was really hoping against hope that she was actually on gchat and hadn't disappeared on me. There had been way too many times in the past three weeks that she has fallen asleep on the computer and I didn't get a chance to say goodnight. I hated those nights, even though I understood how tired she was. On days where we actually worked our entire shifts, I would usually pass out and have dreams that all involved my beautiful Bella.

BrassBells: OMG. I am so happy to see you.

TheBigE.C.: Well, you aren't technically seeing me? Did you want to switch to your webcam?

BrassBells: Not the best idea there Romeo. Nettie just walked across the hall for a minute, but she'll be right back.

My dick instantly deflated because for the past few weeks, I had been trying to get Bella to get on her webcam. I mean, it was already installed in the damn computer; she just had to hit a button so I could see her in real time. However, all I usually ended up getting was photos of her via email or on her Facebook account. I needed something more.

TheBigE.C.: Baby, I'm not asking you to get naked or anything, although that would be fucking spectacular. Just give me a smile. Please?

BrassBells: No nudity? Where is the fun in that?

TheBigE.C.: I know, that is what I am saying!!

BrassBells: Well, I guess it would be nice if I could see you. Are you decent, cause Nettie will see you if she looks, cause she just walked back in.

TheBigE.C.: What do you think?

BrassBells: Hmm… I think you are over there thinking very dirty thoughts and it's affecting your Yankee Doodle Dandy.

TheBigE.C.: Are you talking about my dick?

BrassBells: Uh huh

TheBigE.C.: Seriously?

I couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up from inside of me, and I began to miss her even more. With all her random sayings and awkwardness, it simply confirmed even more that she was made for me; my beautiful girlfriend who I was dying to see again.

BrassBells: If I was there right now, I would sucker punch you in the gut Cullen.

TheBigE.C.: Good thing you aren't here to see me laughing my ass off then.

BrassBells: Ok… no cam. Maybe I should go to bed.

TheBigE.C.: Noooooooo. Please? Pretty please? I will move all your boxes into your new dorm room next month baby.

BrassBells: You'll do that anyways, cause I'll bat my eyelashes and flash you some side boob and you will be all over it.

TheBigE.C.: Only side boob? I would have figured we were past the whole flashing each other accidently thing since I have had sex with you.

BrassBells: Ok… I'm going to bed now.

TheBigE.C.: No wait. Please? I've only seen you in photos for weeks Bella. Do you know how much that sucks? I just want to see you… I'm literally begging over here.

The conversation between us suddenly grew silent and Bella didn't respond. I had been too pushy, I knew it. She was frustrated with me because I couldn't keep it together while she was traipsing across Europe, making friends and seeing the sights. Instead, I was mowing the cities grass, trimming their hedges and moping about as I dreamed about my girlfriend. Suddenly I had a small message pop up in our chat box asking if I wanted to accept a web cam invitation from Bella. I jumped from my chair excitedly before I clicked 'yes'. I wished we had voice, but since I did manage to talk to her a few times a week, I wasn't as desperate for that connection with her. I invited her to view me and then I waited patiently for the video screen to pop up and fuck, if she didn't look as beautiful as she did the last time I saw her.

TheBigE.C.: Jesus, you are beautiful. What's different?

BrassBells: Nettie helped me put purple streaks in my hair, do you like it?

On the screen I watched as she flipped her hair casually, trying to get me to see her better and my hands reached up and touched the screen of their own volition. Maybe this web cam thing wasn't that good of an idea because now I ached to touch her, to run my fingers through her hair and hold her close to me.

TheBigE.C.: I love it. I hope you are not rebelling too much over there.

BrassBells: I bet you are just dying to see what I got pierced.

I choked on the water I was attempting to drink and my mind began reeling.

TheBigE.C.: You got something pierced?

BrassBells: Yup

TheBigE.C.: Show me

I watched anxiously as Bella stood up and slowly lifted the hem of her t-shirt to reveal her taught stomach to me and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head as I saw the small heart charm dangling from her navel, with an emerald gem on it. It was cute and sexy all at the same time.

BrassBells: Is it too much? Nettie was all about me getting something and suggested my nose, but I think Renee would have died on the spot if I came home with something that was visible. Don't you think?

TheBigE.C.: I think it's perfect and really… the only person who willever see it is me. What's with the green? I would have thought you would have gone with something purple to match your hair.

BrassBells: It reminds me of you?

TheBigE.C.: Oh, cause I mow grass right?

BrassBells: Cause of your eyes idiot. Have you been huffing gas at work during your downtimes?

TheBigE.C.: Smartass. I really like it though. I can't wait to run my tongue around it.

BrassBells: Hey, watch what you say babe, Nettie is right there.

Bella suddenly turned around and pointed to her roommate and friend Nettie, who was sitting on the tiny bed behind her. Her long blonde hair was stick straight and it hung down past her shoulders. She had her face buried in a book and when Bella said something to her, Nettie looked up for a moment and waved happily before talking to Bella for the better part of five minutes, before she finally went back to her book and Bella began typing again.

TheBigE.C.: Is everything okay?

BrassBells: She thinks you're hot. I was threatening her life if she came anywhere near you. I may have had to inform her that I waited almost eighteen years for you and that I wouldn't give up easily.

TheBigE.C.: Don't worry baby, I only have eyes for you.

BrassBells: Good answer.