Hey guys. So I still don't know at this point how many more chapters are left. It probably won't go longer than 20 unless I can come up with new material. For now, though, expect to see things begin to wind down.

Thanks again for all the dedicated reviewers who give me something to look forward to when I check my email! And thanks to all those who have added this story to their favorites or story alerts. You guys rock!

On with the story!

~MissSingItAll

Disclaimer: You know, I really don't own Twilight. I don't. Really.


EPOV:

My mind seemed to wake up before my body. Everything felt slow and hazy. I was still in darkness as my body slowly fell out of its resting state. Eventually, I was able to flutter my eyelids, and I opened my eyes gradually, adjusting to the new light.

I was on my back, staring at a tiled ceiling in a room at the hospital. I didn't have to look at my leg to know that it was raised and wrapped in a cast, and the pain was starting to come back. I heard a rhythmic beeping from the machines next to me, but other than that it was pretty quiet. I turned my head to get a better view of my surroundings, and almost had a heart attack at what I saw.

Bella was sitting next to me, holding my hand. I wasn't even aware that she was touching it. She was sleeping, slouched in the chair, and her face looked strangely at peace compared to the rest of her appearance. She was dressed in a pair of sweats and a thin jacket over her t-shirt. Her lips were slightly parted as she breathed, and her hair had fallen over her shoulders, evidence of her leaving in a hurry.

Wait, she's actually here! My brain finally registered this fact. I marveled at Bella then, staring at her pretty face and wondering how in the world she had managed to get here. Her cheeks were still a little flushed, and judging by the way her nose was a light pink I guessed that she had done a lot of crying on the way over here.

Why was she here? To see me? I ran through thought after thought in my head as I gripped her hands gently. She must have been so terrified. And I guess me not calling her after getting back from the airport didn't help either. She probably thought something was wrong and was able to force her way here. A warmth filled me at that thought. Knowing that Bella struggled against her agoraphobia, fought back from her body's instincts, all just to see if I was alright, was stunning to me. This girl had no boundaries when it came to selflessness; never had that been more apparent to me than right now. I couldn't help but smile. Bella was here. I was so proud of her.

I continued to look at her, wanting her to wake up and at the same time cherishing her as she slept, the picture of peace. Eventually, her hands twitched, and she began to move, yawning as her sleep faded. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking rapidly. Through bleary eyes she found me, and she began to smile.

"Hi," I said, my voice still thick with sleep.

"Hi," she rasped, clearing her throat. "You're okay."

"I am," I replied back. We both spoke in half-whispers, not wanting to disrupt the quiet of the room.

"I'm glad," she said earnestly, grinning. I laced my fingers within hers.

"I can't believe you're here, Bella. I'm very proud of you," I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it gently. She blushed, looking away from me.

"I was a mess. I still am," she glanced around the room, and then her eyes landed back at me, but this time there were tears. "I was so worried, I didn't know what to do," she whispered. "I just had to see you."

I tried to move closer to her, only managing to move a couple of inches. She was trembling slightly. "Shh, Bella. We're here, together now."

She reached with her other hand to wipe away her tears before they fell. I was about to speak again when a knock on the door interrupted us. It swung open quietly, revealing my mother, father, and, unexpectedly, Chief Swan. They didn't seem to be surprised that Bella was here; Alice or someone must have told them.

"Hello, dear. How are you feeling?" my mother asked, leading them into the room.

"Alright, I guess. My leg is starting to hurt, though," I replied. My father nodded.

"The medication must be wearing off. We'll get you started on something for the pain," he said.

Chief Swan cleared his throat then, almost uncomfortably. "Bella, we should get home. Let the Cullens recuperate."

Bella looked at me, uncertain. I could tell what she was thinking; she wasn't sure if she could make it home, and she didn't want to leave me any more than I wanted her to leave. But I knew that she had to go, otherwise it would be worse when she did leave later on. I squeezed her hand, trying to encourage her.

"I'll call you, I promise," I said, looking her straight in the eyes. She swallowed nervously, then nodded. She stood, squeezing my hand one final time before letting go. "Bye," she whispered.

"Bye," I replied, watching as she walked away and out the door, followed by her father. My parents swooped in then, my father checking my stats and my mother fawning over me, stroking my hair and kissing my cheek.

"You did absolutely fine through surgery, Edward," my father assured. "You did break your leg, and you'll be on crutches for a while, but other than that you'll be completely fine."

"You won't be able to start pre-season with the guys, though," Emmett said, walking in the room with Alice. I felt a little sad as I thought about this; the whole baseball team would begin workouts soon, and not being there would only make things worse when the season did start.

"That...sucks," I responded, looking down at the bulky cast. Alice came up and patted my arm.

"Jasper and Rosalie said hi and they're glad you're alright," she offered. "But hey, maybe this whole not-being-in-workouts thing is good. You'll get to spend more time with Bella once you get home."

At the mention of Bella my mother looked at me, a somewhat awed look on her face.

"That Bella is something special," she grinned. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her, dragging herself down the hall with Alice. She looked like the world ended, she was so frazzled. But she came here to see you, Edward. Even with all that she goes through."

I smiled again, thinking of Bella, missing her already. "She's amazing."

"I can't imagine how hard it must have been for her, especially with her advanced condition," my father said. He probably knew of Bella's medical history when she moved here and her father registered her.

"It was hard to watch," lamented Alice, "but she was so determined. I could see it in her eyes."

"She's one stubborn girl," Emmett laughed, leaning on the edge of the bed. We all chuckled, amazed by the girl we knew as Bella Swan.

"Well, everyone should get going. Visiting hours are almost up," my father sighed. My mother's shoulders fell as she let go of me, walking over toward Emmett and Alice.

"We'll see you tomorrow, sweetie," she said, and Emmett and Alice both waved, promising to text me if anything happened. I knew that I was going to ask later about Bella and if she managed to get home okay.

The rest of the night, I mostly sat and thought about how I was going to make up for baseball this year. This broken leg would definitely impact my physique, and I knew that the team would be upset losing one of their star players.

I watched tv when I ran out of thinking to do, waiting for the medication I was taking to kick in. My phone buzzed on the little table next to me, and upon looking on the screen I saw that it was Alice. She told me that Bella had finally gotten home, and that it had taken two hours for her to leave the hospital. A few nurses tried to help her before Emmett finally ended up carrying her out to the car. The same thing happened when she had gotten home with her father.

I still had a hard time believing that Bella had been here. From the moment that I woke up today, I realized that something had definitely shifted, and it was only confirmed when I saw her sleeping by my side. This was more than I had ever expected, but I think that in reality I knew it all along: I loved Bella. I loved her with everything in me. She was, at this point, the driving force behind everything that I did. I felt a mixture of elation, hope, and fear with this realization. It was scary knowing that I had unconsciously given my heart away, especially to someone who had the absolute power to crush it. But it felt so natural, so easy to be with her. We seemed to compliment each other in every way.

I had fallen asleep after this, dreaming of nothing. I woke up the next day, strangely feeling like a new person. My father came in to check on me, but I was mostly alone for the day. After eating the meal that my mother had brought me when she visited, I called Bella on my cell phone. She sounded exhausted, but extremely happy. When I asked her how the ride home went, however, she seemed to grow sad.

"It was..." she trailed off, growing quiet.

"Bella?" I asked.

"I was so frustrated," she finally said, sorrowing filling her voice. "I felt like a failure."

"Don't say that," I countered gently. "You made it to the hospital, on your own. That's way farther than what you've been practicing with me. That's amazing."

"It was humiliating, leaving the hospital," she almost wept, and my heart broke at the sound. "It only reminded me how much of a freak I am."

"You're not a freak," I said firmly. "You're the bravest person I know, Bella."

She sighed, not speaking for a few seconds. "When do you think you'll get to leave?" she asked quietly, changing the subject.

"My father says sometime this week, maybe two more days tops," I answered, knowing that she was still mentally beating herself up.

"Okay. I miss you," she said longingly. I smiled a little at that.

"I miss you too, Bella. And don't worry, I won't let a broken leg stop me from coming to see you."

"You better not," she joked, and we both laughed. I talked with her for a few more minutes before hanging up. I was bored quickly after that; there was nothing to watch on tv, and I didn't have anything else to do. I was, therefore, happy when Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie stepped through the door sometime that afternoon.

"Dude, that sucks," Jasper commented, staring at the bulky cast. I nodded, sighing.

"Yeah. I'm not even sure that I'll be able to play this season," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"How do you feel?" Emmett asked, slipping his arm around Rosalie.

"Eh, alright, I guess," I replied. Jasper went to sit in the plastic chair that was still at the side of the bed.

"So was Bella really here?" questioned Rosalie. I could never tell how Rosalie felt about Bella. Rose always treated Bella with respect whenever she was around, but she didn't go to visit Bella unless any of us did. I guess that she was intrigued, and yet slightly uncomfortable in Bella's presence.

"Yeah, she was," I confirmed, leaning back against my propped up pillow. Rosalie only nodded.

"We're going to go see her today and make sure she's still okay," Alice said, going over to stand by Jasper. "I know school doesn't pick up until next week, but we definitely need to start getting ready for the new semester."

Ugh, I didn't even want to think about school right now. I sighed, looking around as both couples were standing together, leaning on each other. I missed Bella; I wanted to hold her and hear her laugh and watch her smile. Suddenly it felt like everything was moving too slowly. I wanted to get out of the hospital and fast forward the healing process. Watching everyone with their significant others only made me feel that much more restless.

As the rest of the day went on and faded into the evening, I lay there in an anxious haze, wanting nothing more than to be with Bella.


BPOV:

I rolled over on my side to look at my alarm clock within the dim light of my room. 3:26pm. After coming home from the hospital yesterday, I had gone immediately up to my room and had broken down on my bed, sobbing. I felt so weak and tired. Leaving the hospital was just as bad, if not worse than getting there. I was ashamed of myself, and yet I couldn't stop freaking out as the nurses and Alice and Emmett and Charlie all tried to help me. I just wanted to shut myself away and never come out after that. I was happy that Edward wasn't there to see it.

Next to me, Edward's journal lay open on the last page that I had been reading. The line that stood out boldly on the page: I wanna be your last first kiss.

Talking to Edward on the phone was a little reassuring, though. Hearing him tell me that I was brave was certainly endearing. But I still couldn't help but feel like I had been a failure. I decided to push it out of my mind for now; I wanted to focus on Edward and helping him any way that I could.

Charlie was certainly surprised to find out that I had ended up all the way at the hospital. At first, he was worried that something had happened to me; after all, I did just leave the house with a note or a phone. I also expect that he wasn't planning on me not being in the house after all this time I spent indoors. But when he got a call from the station about the accident, and he found out who was involved, he knew where I had ended up.

I turned to lay on my back again. I hadn't been bothered all day except for Charlie coming in to tell me that he was leaving for work. So it was a surprise to me when I heard the doorbell ring downstairs. I pushed myself off of my bed and hurried down the stairs, coming to a sliding halt in front of the door.

Standing at the door were Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett. They all looked a little tired, but they wore gentle smiles on their faces. I stepped back to let them in.

"Hey, Bella. How are you?" Alice asked, stepping into the living room with Jasper close behind. Emmett and Rosalie followed them, and I shut the door and sat down in Charlie's recliner.

"I'm fine," I said quietly. Alice nodded at me.

"We saw Edward today," she mentioned. "He's doing well. Dad says he'll be ready to leave in a few days."

"That's great," I smiled. Emmett leaned back into the couch with Rosalie.

"You know, we're really glad that you came to see him. It means a lot," Alice remarked, looking sincere. "It means even more to Edward."

I looked down at my lap, twisting my hands together. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you guys," I mumbled.

"Don't worry about it, Bella! I'm sure that if Rose here got hurt, I would have done the same thing," Emmett said, throwing his arm around Rosalie's shoulders. She looked up at him and shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, but you probably would have done something stupid like getting into another accident on the way," she said. Her crystal blue eyes snapped back to me. "Really though, Bella. I think that what you did was really sweet. I don't know if I could be that brave."

I was surprised to hear Rosalie say this to me. Before it seemed like she didn't really have an opinion about me, like I was just a fixture in her life that she couldn't do anything about. But now she seemed to gaze at me with respect, firmly and sincerely. I only nodded, not sure what to say.

"So, any plans for him when he comes back?" Alice smirked, and I blushed a little.

"Yeah, it's not like he's gonna have much to do for a while," Emmett laughed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, pre-season for baseball is gonna start soon, but with a broken leg he won't be able to go to the workouts," explained Jasper, sitting on the arm of the couch. "He may not even get to play this season."

"Oh no," I said. Edward had mentioned that baseball was one of the biggest parts of his life.

"But, an upside to this is that he gets to see you more," Alice winked. I have to admit, a felt a tinge of happiness at this. But baseball was something that Edward loved doing, and I don't think that spending time with me was a fair substitute.

"I hope he gets better fast, I didn't like seeing him like that," I offered. Alice nodded.

"He'll be fine. We just want to make sure you're okay, too," she said. I smiled at all of them. To me, it felt like I had finally gained some true friends throughout this whole ordeal of moving to Forks.

"Thank you," I said, looking at each of them. "So, would you guys want to stay for dinner?"

The rest of the evening was spent in the kitchen, with me trying to teach everyone how to make different parts of our dinner. Rosalie and I chopped up vegetables for a salad, laughing as Emmett was unsuccessfully trying to fry up the chicken that I had prepared. Jasper and Alice got into a mini food fight while baking dessert, a simple cherry pie. Overall it was a fun night, and as we sat around the kitchen table eating, I couldn't help but feel almost euphoric. The only thing that would have made it absolutely perfect would be having Edward at my side. I settled for the phone call that I received from him after dinner.

"I hope Emmett isn't messing up your house. I wouldn't want the Chief to add 'destruction of his personal property' to Emmett's record," Edward joked as I watched everyone hang in the living room, watching tv.

"No, he is on his best behavior, especially now that my dad is home," I laughed. Charlie had come home while we were eating, and although he looked a little confused, I could tell that he didn't mind me having company over.

"I wish I could be there," he sighed. I leaned against the wall, tangling the phone cord in my hand.

"I wish you could, too."

"I'll be out of here as soon as I can."

"You don't have to rush or anything. You need to heal," I said. "You don't have to be in a hurry to see me, I'm not anything special."

"Bella..." he sounded very tired.

"What?"

"I just wish that you could see yourself the way that I see you," he said softly. "You think I want to be stuck in a boring hospital room all by myself?"

"I just don't want you to get even more hurt than you already are," I replied.

"Don't worry about me, Bella. I just want you to understand where I'm coming from," he remarked. "Okay?"

"Okay."

"I'll call you tomorrow."

"Okay," I stood up straight. "Goodnight, Edward."

"Goodnight, Bella."


A few days later, I was furiously cleaning the living room, almost exactly copying the behavior that I had before that movie night all those months ago. Edward was coming over today, having been released from the hospital yesterday. Emmett was going to drop him off. I wanted him to be as comfortable as possible while he was here.

The doorbell rang right at noon, and I rushed over from turning on the tv to answer it. Edward was there, waving to Emmett, who bounded off down the street in his large Jeep. He turned to face me, but he didn't say a word. I stared back at him, refamiliarizing myself with his appearance.

He was leaning on a pair of crutches, his cast covered by the large pair of black sweats he was wearing. He had on a blue zip-up hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath. His bronze hair was as messy as ever, and his brillant green eyes were eager and happy. I realized that he had been staring at me just as I had been ogling him, and I blushed. Feeling self-consicous, I pulled down my purple top over my dark blue jeans. I stepped back to give him room to hop into the house.

"Hey," he finally breathed when he had made his way inside. I shut the door.

"Do you want to sit down? Do you need anything?" I asked him, hoping that I could help him with whatever he needed.

"No, thanks. I'm fine, I'll sit," he said, and I followed him as he walked over the couch, having already acquired a kind of mastery over using the crutches. He sat in the middle of the couch and lifted his leg up to rest in front of him. He patted the seat next to him, and I plopped down at his side. He wrapped him large arm around me and pressed a kiss to my temple.

"This is better," he murmured. I reached for his other hand and held onto it.

"I'm glad you're here," I said, keeping my eyes forward, looking at the tv. I felt him trace the bracelet that still adorned my wrist.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," he replied simply. I relaxed into his hold. I could tell that we both didn't feel the need to say anything. We were content with just being together.

Every now and then one of us would ask the other a question, usually something random and trivial. At one point, however, I asked Edward about his plans after high school.

"Well, definitely college," he said, "but I'm not sure where yet. Either University of Alaska or University of Washington."

"What do you want to be?" I asked.

"I've been thinking about becoming a doctor, like my dad," he said. "But I'm pretty much open to anything."

He looked hesistant then, as he asked me, "So what are your plans?"

"Um, I don't know," I replied, unsure. "I can't exactly go to college."

"You could do online courses. I'm sure there are plenty of colleges with that," he suggested.

"Yes, but, I just wish that I could actually have the experience of going on campus," I turned to look at him. "You know, meeting people, going to classes, and all that."

"But would you be happy? In that kind of environment?" Edward countered. I thought about it for a moment before I spoke again.

"I'm not so sure," I said, and I really wasn't.

"Maybe you should try and think about all the other alternatives," he offered. "Maybe...maybe you could go where I end up going, at least online, and we could be together."

That idea opened up a whole world of questions for me. Did Edward still want to be with me then, years from now? Or would he eventually grow tired of putting up with me? I certainly cared enough about him. Did I want this too? What was going to happen when I start living on my own, if I can live on my own? Would anyone take care of me?

"Do you want that?" I asked timidly. "Do you want to still be with me, that far into the future?"

"Yes," he looked at me, resolution and finality in his eyes.

"But what if you get tired of me?"

"Bella, I don't know how many times I've told you," he sighed harshly, a slight bit of irritation wrinkling his brow. "I want to be with you, wherever you go. It's not some kind of chore, or some kind of burden for me."

"Sometimes it feels that way," I mumbled, looking away from him. "You could be with anyone else."

"But I'm here with you," He shifted so that his body faced mine. "And I want to be. Bella, I..."

He stopped then, pausing as if unsure. He swallowed, nodding his head to himself. He took my hand in his.

"Bella...I love you."


A/N: Pivotal moment!!! Anyways, I'm still trying to figure out how to link to that picture of the bracelet. Can anyone help with that?

The song lyric came from "Inevitable" by Anberlin. It's a beautiful song.

Review with your thoughts!