The Best Man

Chapter 10

A/N: Sad, I know. So many of you were worried about Bella, but you were also glad that Edward was flying to her side. It seems that we all fell just a little more in love with him in the last chapter! Let's see what happens the day after the fire.

Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.

Edward had his cell phone out and ready to go as soon as the plane hit the ground. He grabbed his carry-on bag and hit the speed dial button. He nodded to the flight attendant as he exited the plane, not responding to the admiring look she gave him. There was only one woman's smile that he wanted to see right now, and he suspected he might have to do a little work to put a smile back on her face.

"Jasper. I just landed. How bad did this go over at the station?"

"Not to worry, Ed. I talked to station management, and they get it. Now, they won't be happy if you stay out there for a week, but I probably bought you two days."

Edward sighed in relief. "Thanks, I owe you. I didn't mean to leave you holding the bag."

"Are you serious? Your lovely blond co-star was more than happy to get the extra air time. I'm her new favorite producer right now."

Edward laughed. "Why am I not surprised?" He followed the signs to the taxi area and held up his hand in the universal signal for wanting a cab.

"Actually, I managed to waggle some time for myself too. I'm leaving after the show is over and we get everything nailed down for tomorrow. Tell Alice I'll be out there tonight."

"Will do. I gotta go. Thanks again, buddy." Edward disconnected and climbed in the back of the cab. He gave the driver the address for the girls' apartment. Unable to sit back and relax, he stared out the window and thought about what he was going to do. He had a plan, but he wasn't sure how Bella would respond.

When the cab reached its destination, Edward stepped out, paid the driver, and strode resolutely to the door. Before he could knock, the door flew open and Bella launched herself into his arms. He dropped his bag and pulled her tight against his chest. He thought he could feel the beat of her heart right through her shirt and his. Somehow, her heartbeat had become the most precious sound in the world to him. He offered a silent prayer of thanks that Bella, Alice, and everyone else made it out of the store. Material things could be replaced, but he was realizing quickly that nothing would replace Bella's presence in his life.

Bella wrapped her legs around Edward and buried her face in his shoulder. They just held each other for a few long minutes. No words were needed as each drew strength and comfort from the other.

Edward lifted her chin and looked deep into Bella's eyes. "Hey, spider monkey."

She looked at the way she was wrapped around him and had to laugh. "Hey."

With that one word, he felt a huge weight lift from his chest. Somehow, he knew she would be okay. They would be okay, and he would give everything he had to make that happen. Her eyes were puffy from overnight tears and he searched them for the spark, the fire that he always associated with his Bella.

"There she is" he said when he found it. "My girl. My strong, brave girl."

Bella leaned in and rubbed her nose against his. The simple gesture made them both smile. She brushed his bronze hair back from his forehead and he pulled her closer to him until their lips met. The soft, gentle kiss was a celebration of being reunited, of being safe. The next kiss was considerably harder, deeper, more meaningful. This kiss was a celebration of being together, of two souls finding their way back together despite the circumstances. Edward rejoiced in the taste of her, the texture of her lips, the pressure against his own. He placed three small kisses, one on her lips, one on her nose, and one on her forehead before speaking again. "How are you?"

"So much better now that you're here. I'm still trying to comprehend it, to understand that it's gone." Tears threatened against but she fought them. "Alice and I have just…"

"Alice" said Edward, looking over Bella's shoulder. "Jasper says to tell you he'll be here tonight. He'll be on the next plane once the show is done this morning and everything is set."

"I knew that" she said as she danced away.

Edward turned back to Bella. "How could she…"

"Don't even ask" Bella replied.

Edward set her back on her feet, but couldn't let go of her. "How can I help?"

"You've already helped, just by being here. I have to talk to the insurance people this morning, go through my computer records and try to figure out how much inventory we had in the store, and probably about a million other things."

"Point me toward a computer, and I'll check your inventory while you talk to the insurance people. We can go from there."

"Are you sure?"

"Hey, business major here. I can figure out your inventory system." He gave her his best grin and was pleased to get a smile in return.

"Ok, over here." She led him to her small home work station. She gave him a cagey look. "Am I going to have to pay you for all this work?"

"You certainly are, Ms. Swan. I'll start with a coffee right now, and we can discuss terms later." He pinched her butt, which made her yelp, and sat in the desk chair. "What's your password?"

She blushed. "Edward."

"Yes?"

"No, I mean my password. It's Edward."

He laughed, and went to work.

By the time Jasper arrived late in the afternoon, they had gotten through most of the day's chores. He found Bella pacing with the phone glued to her ear, Edward scribbling notes on a pad of paper while he stared at the computer screen, and Alice in the kitchen, pulling a tray of something wonderful out of the oven.

"Jasper" squealed Alice, yanking the oven gloves off her hands before running to him.

They enjoyed a wonderful dinner, complete with Alice's favorite go-to dessert, peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes with whipped cream icing. She grinned as she set the goodies on the table. "Just because this really sucks doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate your being here."

"Thanks, guys. Really." Bella sat back in her chair, happy to find Edward's arm behind her. "I feel like we've done everything we can for now. There's nothing else to do until the insurance money comes through."

"What about the hospital?" asked Alice. "Do we have enough books to keep the reading program going?"

Bella frowned. "I don't know. A few of our volunteer readers for the week already picked out their books, so there's probably at least a dozen out there. I don't know what we'll do next week."

Edward shot a look at Jasper. "How many books would you need to keep things going for a month or so?"

"I don't know. Maybe 30? If we pass them around, that would give us enough to read a different book to each of our groups every day."

Jasper returned Edward's look with a discrete nod of agreement. "Edward and I would be honored if you ladies would pick out a set of books and let us donate them to the hospital reading program. Even if we can't buy them at Bella's Books."

"Please, let us" said Edward.

The girls agreed and they piled into Bella's car to make the trip to the mall.

A few hours later, Edward and Jasper had talked Bella and Alice into letting them buy 40 children's books to be used at the hospital. They arrived back at the apartment, shopping bags full of books in hand. Bella and Alice chattered back and forth about the best way to contact their volunteers, how to divide the books between the readers for the lounge and the readers for the hospital rooms, and calling the hospital to set up a place to store them. The evening shift nurses were very excited, since this meant that some of the children could "borrow" books to read at night when sleep was sometimes difficult to find, and the volunteer readers had gone home.

Bella found it hard to believe that only a little more than 24 hours had gone by since the fire. The day had been surreal, starting with waking up to find that the whole thing had not, in fact, been a terrible dream, getting a little better once she got busy with the things she needed to do, and ending up so much better than how it started. Now she had a feeling it was going to get a whole lot better.

"Ready for bed, sweetheart?" Edward brushed his nose along the side of her neck as he whispered gently in Bella's ear.

"That's our cue to leave these two alone, Jasper" said Alice, taking him by the hand and pulling him toward the kitchen.

Jasper followed willingly. "Hey, do you have any more of those cupcakes?"

"Oh, I've got cupcakes for you alright" Alice said seductively as they disappeared into the kitchen.

Bella and Edward couldn't help but laugh. A sudden thought hit Edward.

"You don't think they're going to..."

"In the kitchen?" Bella shook her head. "I don't think so. But you never know with Alice."

"Ok, that's just not something I want to think about."

"What do you want to think about?" She smirked, pulling his hand and moving toward her bedroom door.

They were interrupted by Alice and Jasper, cupcakes in hand, nearly running through the living room toward the front door.

"See you tomorrow, kids!" Alice blew them a kiss and she pushed Jasper out the door.

"Where are you going?" asked Edward.

In response, Jasper reached back into the room, dangling a hotel key. "Later Ed!"

The room seemed infinitely quieter now that Jasper and Alice were gone.

Edward, his hand gently squeezing Bella's, peeked into the kitchen. "You don't suppose they left any cupcakes, do you?"

"Oh, I've got cupcakes for you" Bella said, imitating her friend. They both laughed.

Edward drew her into his arms. "Bed?"

"Bed."

They just stood there for a few minutes, once again reveling in the beauty of being in each other's arms. After a few slow kisses, the passion began to build, and they slowly undressed each other before falling into bed. As promised, Edward showed Bella exactly how grateful he was that she was alive and unharmed.

In the early hours of the morning, Edward kissed Bella gently on the forehead. "Can't sleep?"

She snuggled deeper into his arms and lifted her head from where it lay over his heart. Normally, she knew the gentle beats of his heart would lull her to sleep, but this wasn't a normal day. "I just have so much to do, so many decisions to make. Thanks for the books, though. You and Jasper took one worry off my mind."

He gently tucked her hair behind her ear, then nuzzled the side of her head. He couldn't believe how fast she had become the center of his universe. The plan that had been forming in his head since his plane left Chicago seemed to fall completely into place as he held her in his arms, and he knew it was absolutely the right thing to do. This wasn't about schedules or timelines, or what anyone else thought. But would Bella see it that way? He remembered how he felt, standing at the front of the room at Tanya's wedding and spotting the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. He hoped he could explain his plan in a way that would persuade her to accept.

"Bella, sweetheart, I need to talk to you. I have this plan, I mean, I had an idea, and maybe you'll think it's good. But maybe you won't, but it really is a good plan I think, and…"

"Edward. You're rambling." Bella smiled. She knew without a doubt she loved this man, especially when he let his less confident, less public side show through. "What is it?"

"Come to Chicago. With me."

She looked at him, puzzled. "I am coming to Chicago. In two weeks, remember? We're supposed to get together with Rosalie and Emmett." Then she frowned. "I don't think that'll interfere with all the insurance stuff. They just need to understand that I have to get away for a while. And that I'll need to see you. I can't imagine not having you near."

"That's what I'm trying to say. Come to Chicago – not just for the weekend. Permanently." He kept talking, trying to fill the room with words before she could construct any arguments. "Think about it. You could open the bookstore there. I live in this great little neighborhood. It's full of apartments, and shops and really cool restaurants. A bookstore like Bella's Books would be perfect."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "I never thought about going anywhere else. I don't know, Edward."

"Bella, just think about it. You could keep in touch with the hospital. Maybe get some of your volunteers to run the program here. And maybe start a program just like it in Chicago. I know some people, I could help."

Bella's heart beat just a little faster at the possibility. "It would be a lot of work, starting again from scratch." She remembered the long days she and Alice put in setting up the store originally.

"Sweetheart, it's going to be a lot of work no matter where you rebuild it. But you'd have me to help."

She sat up. "But Alice…"

Edward pushed his pillow up and sat against the headboard, motioning for her to do the same. "If I know Jasper, he's giving Alice the same sales pitch right now." He gave her his most disarming smile. "Are you going to make me use puppy eyes?"

She had to laugh at the face he made. "I'd have to find a place to live."

He was thrilled that she was actually considering it. He took a deep breath before bringing out phase two of the plan. "No, you wouldn't."

"Of course I would, Edward, I can't live in a hotel. No money, no income, remember? I'd have to…."

"Move in with me." He took both her hands. "Live with me."

Bella's mouth dropped open.

He spoke again before she could say a word. "Bella, I love you. I think I've known it since the first time I saw you. If I could uproot myself and move here, I'd do it. I even asked my agent to check out stations here. But this, it's like fate just gave us another possibility. A chance for you to start over, but with me. I'll be by your side, Bella. The whole way."

"Okay."

"Just think about it. Don't say no right away."

Bella waited for it to hit him.

"Wait, what did you say?"

Bella laughed. "I said okay. Yes. Offer accepted." She shook her head. "I don't know about fate, but I know what I want, and what I want is to be with you."

Edward's heart soared. "That's what I want too. We'll make this work, Bella. You'll love Chicago."

"I love you, and that's enough."

Unable to say anything else, he pulled her tight to his chest, and kissed her soundly. They snuggled down beneath the covers, and contented, fell asleep in each other's arms.

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