Wow, what an experience this has been. My first finished story. I'm very proud of myself.
Thanks to everyone who had reviewed!! It means so much to me!!
And a special thanks to Lion says Rawr, who gave me the nicest review ever, one that I probably wasn't deserving of.
An hour later, after all of the excitement had settled down, I found Edward in the back of the locker room. That's odd...I walked over to him, and sat down, placing my hand lightly on his leg. "Hey, are you ok?" I asked him.
"Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just tired, " he said laughing. He probably realized how strange it was for him to be sitting back here all by himself, well not anymore...I rested my head against his shoulder, it just such a nice shoulder, very comfy.
"Just one more day, right? Then you'll be all done," I said, sighing. He wrapped his arm around me, securing me against him.
"I am looking forward to it. This past week has probably been the best of my life, but still, it will be nice to get back to some sort of normalcy. I probably won't do anything for the next few weeks, it will be very nice to just relax," he told me smiling at the thought.
"Yep, and I'll be going back to school...Are you still sure about moving here?"
"Yes! Of course! You're so silly, I wouldn't change my mind. Besides, I was thinking about going back to school too. I never did finish college back home before I had to start training," he said looking down at me, maybe gaging my reaction.
"Really? That sounds like a great idea, Edward." He kissed the top of my head. "I can't even imagine what people will say when they find out that Edward Cullen is coming to there school." I expect screaming girls, some staring, definitely a lot of giggling. Hell, I might even join them.
"Good. I look forward to it. Granted, I never was a very good student..."
"Aw, don't worry," I said, looking up at him. "With me around, you'll pass all of your classes." I changed the subject, all the while thrilled at the thought of Edward going to school with me. It certainly will have everyone talking... "So are you going to head back to the hotel?"
"Yeah, I think so. I'll probably sleep for awhile. Just come on up to my room when you get off work, ok?" He is always so sweet to me, I really didn't think they made guys like this anymore. He was always thinking about my well being, never thinking about himself; I don't think I've heard him complain once. Well, except for those nasty reporters. But, really, who likes them?
"Yeah, that sounds great, thanks Edward. C'mon, I'll walk you out. Protect you from all those mad screaming teenage girls," I joked. He grabbed his things and stood up.
"Oh, thank you," he said sarcastically. "I think I had one of them try to kiss me the other day." He face was pained, poor thing. Crazed, teenage girls can be a horror. We walked out of the locker room, hand in hand, constantly having to duck around people. The whole place was very crowded, since there were a few more women's races this afternoon. I kissed him goodbye, and then watched him walk out onto the busy streets of D.C.
Work was dull without Edward around, that goes with out saying. In fact, if it wasn't for Edward, this whole week probably would have been really crappy. The whole thing still felt like some sort of dream. It was like the universe had thrown us together that day, just one short week ago. It was amazing how far our relationship had progressed in that time. He was staying here in D.C. for me, which said a lot. They always say actions speak louder than words...His actions have definitely said something.
I had promised Edward this morning that I would stay with him tonight, a promise that I had no problem keeping. When I got off work I grabbed some things from my room, so I would be prepared; unlike the last time. As I was walking up to Edwards room, I started to think about that article about us that would be in the Post soon. She never did tell me when it would run...Although, I had a feeling that it would be tomorrow, since that was the last day that Edward would be racing.
Not wanting to wake Edward if he was sleeping, I let my self into his room. The door was unlocked, almost as if he was expecting me. That, or, Edward was just careless when it came to locks. One of the two. I quickly glanced across the living room and kitchen to find Edward no where in sight.
I walked down hallway to his bedroom, and carefully opened the door, which was ajar. There I found him, asleep in his bed, his back towards me. I made my way across the room to close the shades, so the setting sun wouldn't wake him. Kneeling down beside the bed, I brushed the hair out of his face. Once again, I was struck by his perfection. I probably would never get used to it. He looked so calm, his breathing steady, as he clung to the sheet that was pulled up to his neck. He needed the sleep, desperately, I knew. As quietly as I could, I walked back out into the kitchen to make dinner.
Now it was my turn to cook for him. I looked around in the refrigerator and cabinets to see what I could find. They were pretty well stocked, considering Edward seemed more like a take out kind of guy. Eyeing some chicken in the back of the refrigerator, I knew what I wanted to make, chicken parmesan. Well, it was pretty much the only thing I could make, besides grilled cheese. I grabbed some eggs to before shutting the door.
I had no idea how long Edward had been sleeping, but I started cooking anyway, figuring I could just keep the chicken warm in the oven. After the chicken started took cook, I went over a switched the T.V. on, the place was just too quite, it started to creep in out. Just then, Edward came down the hall, rubbing his eyes, his hair messier than ever.
"I'm sorry, I didn't wake you did I?" I asked, as a walked over to him. He started to shake his head.
"No, no, don't worry about it. I've been sleeping for a few hours anyway," he said, looking out onto the now darkening skyline. He looked over to the kitchen, and sniffed the air. "Are you cooking for me?" he asked with a little too much excitement. I rolled my eyes, knowing he was joking. "It smells great."
"Here, come sit down, it will be ready soon." He did as I told, sitting down and leaning his arms on the counter. I dished our food out, and set the plate in front of him. When I took my seat, he kissed me, very sweetly.
"Thank you," he said before giving me another quick kiss. After I started breathing again, I started to eat, not realizing before how hungry I was.
After watching a bad movie when we were done with dinner, we heading to bed. When I went into the bathroom, I found a folded shirt of his and pair of boxers. Was this him telling me he wanted to wear his clothes? He did mention the other day how much he liked to see me in them...fine by me. The clothes smelled like him, which made me want to hurry up so I could go smell the real thing. That probably sounds weird...but really, Edward is intoxicating.
Much like the other night, I fell asleep against his chest, using it as my own personal pillow. I hoped things would stay like this after we went back to our normal lives. Just...perfect like this. For me, falling asleep with him, waking up to him in the morning, it was perfection.
The next morning, I felt his finger against my cheek, I couldn't stop my self from smiling. "Good morning," his whispered before kissing me softly.
"Morning, how long have you been up?" I asked him.
"Not long, don't worry. But we do have to get up soon, I have an early race today," he said looking at the clock. Oh, that's right. His last two races were practically back to back today. We both rolled out of bed today and went into the kitchen. Edward suddenly stopped, throwing a glace my way.
"What is it?" He didn't say anything. Smiling, he made his way to the door, picking something up off the floor. When he started to walk back towards me, I saw what was in his hands. "Oh, no."
"Who is Edward Cullen's mystery girl? Page five," he announced, reading off of the front of the paper. We sat down at the counter as he flipped through the pages. He seemed to find this whole thing very amusing.
"Um, I think I'm going to get something to eat," I said going over to the cabinets. We both knew that was code for: "I really don't want to read that article." I found some cereal and poured it into a bowl, watching Edwards face the whole time, wanting to see what his reaction was. I stood there across from him, until he shut the paper.
"So, how was it?" I asked him. He seemed indifferent.
"Nothing special. Didn't tell me anything I don't already know. I don't really like her style of writing though..." He trailed of, looking at the rest of the headlines on the paper. "Ok, I'm going to go change, so we can head down alright?"
"Yeah, sure," I said sighing, as he walked back into the bedroom. My curiosity finally took hold of me when he shut the door. It was too hard to stay away when the paper was just sitting there, on the counter, mocking me. I quickly flipped to page five. The first thing I saw was a giant picture of Edward and I, practically taking up the whole page. It was taken right before one of his races, when we were talking in front of the pool. I began to skim the article.
Bella Swan, the whole world seems to know who she is by now, for she has captured the special attention of Olympic swimmer Edward Cullen. I stopped there. Most of the article were just my exact quotes, she didn't go to much into detail about what kind of vibes I was giving off, like some writers do. I looked down to the end of the article, where one sentence caught my eye. I would not be surprised if we saw Edward Cullen back in four years, fighting for more gold medals, with Miss Swan right by his side. Wow, that certainly was taking a giant leap into the future. I wonder what Edward had thought about that...
"See, some how I knew you would want to read it." I spun around, to see Edward leaning up against the wall. I set the paper down, and walked into the bedroom to get changed. He knew. Drat.
A few minutes later, and we were walking down the street to the pool, I had to ask him about that last line. "Like I said, it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know," he replied, bringing my hand up to kiss it. So now I knew, Edward still planned to be with me in four years time. I wanted him longer than four years. I've only know him for a week, but I already know that I want him, to be his, for life.
He swung the door open for we as we headed inside, for probably the last time. I sat in the front with him while he got ready, wanting to be here since this the end for him (well, at least for these Olympics). This race was a short one, only 100 meters. Practically nothing compared to yesterday. He pulled me in for a hug, and I held on tightly, wanting him to know I was there for him. I buried my head in the crook of his neck, giving him a kiss there.
He pulled away. "Thank you."
"For what?" I asked him.
"For being here for me." He could definitely read my mind. I'm sure of it. My heart swelled with emotion, varying from sadness to pure excitement. I took his face in my hands a kissed him eagerly, until I needed air. "I'm always going to be here for you, I hope you know that." I told him seriously. He was kissing the top of my head when I heard a whistle blow. Time for gold medal number nine I thought. He let me go, and I staying close by, since the race was so short. I listened to the announcer, since it was so hard to see who was winning from where I was standing. Edward was leading, with a few other swimmers right there with him. But, much to no ones surprise, Edwards name flashed up onto the screen seconds later.
When he got out of the pool, I was greeted with another bone crushing (but Edward would never hurt me...) hug, before Edward had to go get ready for his last race, which was just fifteen minutes away. I spent most of those fifteen minutes trying to explain to some French guy (whose English was very, very minimal) how to get to the soccer stadium. Edward came back out, with a scowl on his face; he looked pretty happy when I left him. I made my way past a whole crowd of people to get to him.
"Edward, what's wrong?" He looked over my shoulder, where I saw the problem. It was Mike, probably Edwards biggest competition at these Games. "Don't let him bother you ok, just forget about it." I said turning back to him. "You're so much better than him, and you now it."
"Yeah, I know. But still...he just really bugs me," he said looking around.
"Please, just be concerned with beating him, ok?" He smiled.
"I think I can do that." Once again, it was my time to stand on the sidelines and watch Edward make history (and beat Mike, which ever is more important). And, he did, just like I had told him to.
I was ecstatic. He had won ten gold medals and captured my heart, all in less than a week. Actually I think he already had it, even that first day in the elevator. I ran over to him, even risking the chance of slipping on the wet ground. His arms were held out for me, and I jumped into them, as I wrapped my legs around his waist.
I pulled back to look into his eyes. "I am so proud of you."
"I couldn't have done any of this without you." Then he kissed me, so passionately that I couldn't even hear the cheering crowd anymore. It was just me and him. Our own private little celebration. We got out of the Aquatic Center as fast as possible, just wanting to spend time together, without the world watching.
We were in the elevator when I finally felt like I could breathe again. His arms were around me, my head resting on his chest. He spoke very softly.
"I love you." I knew it. Ok, fine. Probably the wrong initial first thought. But, really, I didn't feel like he needed to tell me. His actions were enough to show that. Why did I feel like this was the perfect place to say this? In our elevator, where we first met. I smiled.
"I love you too, Edward." He lifted my face up, to kiss me, extremely gently. The elevator doors opened, which made us pull apart.
"So now that I'm done, I'm sure there are some other sports you want to check out in the next week. Judo? Handball? Kayaking?" I groaned. He opened the door to his room (it was locked this time). I knew that everything would be perfect with Edward from here on in. It already was. And to think, just last week , I seemed to be all alone in the world. One elevator ride changed all of that...
"Sailing? Oh, how about rowing?"
The End.
I might write an epilouge, but I'm not sure yet.
Please review! Let me know you're out there!