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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

Special thanks to Gredelina1, Snarkymuch, Mary-Alice-Brandon-Cullen, Augustmoon99, Arrr and Verseseven my wonderful pre-reader/cheerleader team. And to Grrlnorth for beta'ing this mess for me.

Chapter Fourteen - Peaceful

Edward POV

We spent the morning cleaning and tidying around the house. Or more specifically, Bella cleaned and I watched. She refused all my offers of help, saying she preferred to do it herself. She gave me a stack of notes from the lectures I had missed and sat me at the table with orders to "Read that and keep out from under my feet."

I read through the notes in five minutes and spent the rest of the time watching her discreetly as she worked. There was something very comforting in watching her bustle about the house. She had never been sloppy when she lived with Charlie, but she definitely took more enjoyment in the work now that it was her own home.

"Okay, you are going to need to leave for a while," she informed me as she came into the kitchen at noon.

"What did I do?" I asked.

"You didn't do anything." She pressed a kiss to my cheek. "But I need to eat lunch, and Rosalie told me that human food smells foul."

Damn Rosalie.

"It doesn't smell that bad," I lied. "I really don't mind."

"You may not mind, but I do. Go for a drive or something."

"How about I just sit out on the porch?" I suggested.

"How about you leave the stalker stuff to the professionals, and go for a drive? Honestly, Edward, it'll only be for half an hour at the most."

Feeling like a child being sent out to play, I stomped from the house and to my car. If I was going to be out, I was going to make good use of my time. Driving into the center of town, I pulled up in front of a florist.

I recognized the cashier as someone I had seen around campus. I asked her to make me a bouquet of pink and white roses.

"How big do you want it?" she asked.

"A dozen of each should suffice."

"Wow, you must have done something really bad." My confusion must have been obvious as she continued. "They're for your girlfriend, right? Two dozen roses are usually reserved for the bad stuff."

"Oh, I see. Well I haven't done anything, I just wanted to surprise her."

She laughed. "Well you're a lot more clued in than most guys; my boyfriend thinks Jello shots are the way to a woman's heart. Your girlfriend is a lucky girl."

"No," I said fervently. "I am the lucky one."

We made friendly conversation as she arranged the bouquet and I perused the displays. I was trying to decide whether buying a stuffed toy would be overkill when my phone beeped with an incoming call.

"You need to buy a couple of vases," Alice said, not bothering with a greeting. "Bella has one, but it won't be big enough to hold them all. Seriously, Edward, two dozen roses? I think you went a little overboard. Oh and the grey bear, it's cute." She cut the call before I even had a chance to respond.

Smiling to myself, I picked up the bear and two vases, and placed them on the counter.

"Here you go," she said, handing me the flowers. Alice may have been right about the overkill, it was a very large bouquet. I paid, leaving her a hefty tip, and maneuvered my way out of the store with my packages.

By the time I got back to Bella's house, my thirty-minute exile was over. I could hear the gentle thudding of her heart around the back of the house.

"I'm out back," she called, hearing my car pull into the drive. I took the flowers and vases with me, but left the bear in the car; I wanted to gauge her reaction to the flowers first.

She was on the swing, the creaking keeping time with the soft thudding of her heart.

"Did you have a nice… wow!" Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the flowers.

"I thought you might like them." I said anxiously, half expecting an 'Old Bella' reaction to the flamboyant gift.

She smiled dazzlingly. "They're lovely. I'm not sure I have enough vases for them all though; you might have to take some back for your mom."

"One step ahead of you," I said, handing her the bag.

"Well, aren't you clever. Let's get these in water before they wilt." She led me back into the house, and I watched as she arranged the flowers.

"My mom once dragged me to an evening class in flower arranging," she said conversationally. "Renee is big on the hobbies, but she loses interest quickly. This was one of her more enduring experiments. I think she made it through three classes before quitting."

I was surprised that she kept a few of the roses aside, and when she finished, she wrapped the stems in foil and set them in the sink. "For your mom," she explained. "She'll like them, right?"

Like them? She was going to be over the moon. I wondered if this heralded a softening towards Esme and Carlisle.

"She will love them," I assured her. "Though, she'd like them a lot more if you gave them to her yourself. You could come to our house. Carlisle could check to see how your hand is healing now that you have stopped wearing the brace. I know Alice and Emmett have missed you, and Rosalie will be dying to show off the garage. And–"

She pressed a finger to my lips, halting my stream of incentives. "This really matters to you, doesn't it?"

"It really does. They are my family, and I want to show you off."

"Okay. Not today though, I have things I want to do. Is tomorrow too soon?"

"Tomorrow is perfect," I said with a beaming smile.

I wondered what it was she wanted to do today; I hoped it involved curling up on the couch together. Now I was not held back by the temptation of her scent, I was able to enjoy the other aspects of our relationship.

Unfortunately, she had other ideas. "Have you got your books with you?"

My heart sank. "They're in the car."

"You go get them, and we can get started on the reading," she said, settling herself on the couch, her books on her lap.

Musing on my regression into a lust-addled teen, I collected my books and, as an afterthought, the stuffed toy I had brought her.

She was already absorbed in the text when I got back to her side. She had never been a slacker before, but sometime in the two years we were apart, she had developed a work ethic to rival Carlisle's.

"I think we should go through the chapter first, then we can quiz each other," she said without looking up.

I cleared my throat loudly. Her irritation at the interruption vanished when she saw the bear. "I didn't peg you for a cuddly toy kinda man, but I guess you never can tell."

"What? No! It's not mine! I brought it for you!" I babbled holding it away from myself as if it were a bomb.

She rolled her eyes and took the bear from me. "I was teasing. It's very cute, thank you."

I sat beside her and began my own reading. I timed my own page turning to hers, not wanting to advertise my enhanced abilities. After a while, I noticed she was slowing down and her eyes were unfocused.

"Are you okay, love?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I think I'm going to take a break."

Glad of an excuse to stop too, I dropped my book onto the coffee table and wrapped an arm around her. She settled her head against my chest, directly above where my heart should be beating. She didn't seem to notice its absence, just as she didn't seem to mind the fact that my flesh was so cold and unyielding. In fact, she seemed just as comfortable with the differences now as she had before.

I pressed a kiss to her hair, and was rewarded with a soft sigh. I ran my fingers along her arm, marveling at her warmth and softness. It seemed to relax her as she nuzzled against me, and before long, her breathing changed to the slow, deep breaths of sleep.

I tried to shift her into a more comfortable position, but she moaned. "Don't go."

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised. "I just want to make you comfortable."

"Okay," she sighed.

I lifted her into my arms and laid her down on the couch, placing a cushion under her head. She gripped my shirt and pulled me to her.

"I'm here," I whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I love you."

"Me too."

I chuckled, settling myself on the floor and resting my head on the pillow so I was facing her. I had always loved to watch her sleep; the way her expression would shift as she dreamed was fascinating. She wasn't dreaming now though, her face was calm and relaxed.

I wished I had the skill to capture the image of her serene face. Alice was the one with the artistic abilities in the family, and I didn't think it would be appropriate to ask her to come and sketch Bella for me now. Satisfying myself with committing the image to my indelible memory, I closed my own eyes and imagined how it would feel to dream.

I was content, lost in my memories of Bella, when the shrill ringing of Bella's phone pulled me out of my thoughts. I deliberated a moment before answering, not sure what the custom was in someone else's home. Bella stirred, and I decided that her rest was more important than convention. I recognized the number as Charlie's.

"Hello, Chief Swan. It's Edward."

"Edward?" he said, his confusion evident. "Where's Bella? Is she okay?"

"She's fine," I said. "We were studying together, and she fell asleep. I didn't want the phone to wake her."

"Studying," he mumbled. "Well, I guess that's okay."

Even if it wasn't, what did he really think he could do? I stifled a laugh at the image of him flying out here to supervise our study sessions.

"Would you like me to ask her to call you when she wakes up?" I asked.

"Yeah… that would be good." It seemed there was something more he wanted to say, so I decided to help him out. The sooner I got the call over with, the sooner I could get back to Bella.

"Is there anything else you want me to tell her?" I asked.

"How does she look? I mean, you know about the fainting thing, right?"

"I do. In fact, Bella told me the full story of her accident this morning."

"She did?" His amazement colored his tone. "Well, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Renee said she sounded all loved-up this morning on the phone, it was only a matter of time before she told you. I hope you realize what a big thing that was for her, Edward. She fought for her independence after the accident, and hates admitting weakness. She trusts you now, you better not screw it up again."

"I won't," I vowed. "To hurt Bella is tantamount to hurting myself. She is my life."

"Huh, well, okay." He sounded embarrassed by my heartfelt declaration. "If she trusts you now, I guess I have to as well. I need you to look after her now. I know she said it was because she forgot to eat, but this fainting thing has us a little jumpy. I have talked Renee out of flying up there, but I need you to be my eyes. If there is any hint of her being ill, you take her to a doctor, then call me in that order."

I would have done it even if he hadn't asked, but I reassured him anyway, and gave him the number for my cell and the house phone before hanging up and returning to Bella.

She slept most of the afternoon; dusk was falling when she began to stir. I moved to the armchair and picked up a book. Though I was just as comfortable on the floor as I was on the chair, it would have looked odd to her if she woke with my face inches from her.

"Did you have a good nap?" I asked solicitously as she blinked blearily.

"Yeah, sorry I fell asleep on you, I guess I was more tired than I thought. I hope you weren't too bored."

"Not at all, I enjoyed the view."

"You watched me sleep?" I fervently hoped that it was surprise rather than anger that made her voice so high pitched.

"Your father called!" I announced, seizing on the change of topic. "He wants you to call him back. We had a talk, I think it went well."

"Nice distraction," she said sardonically. "I'm going to call Charlie, and then you and I are going to have a little chat about nap time etiquette."

I nodded eagerly, glad of the reprieve.

"Does coffee smell as bad as food?" she asked.

"It doesn't smell too bad," I said, choosing my words with care. It certainly didn't smell good, but I wasn't about to admit that. She might make me leave every time it she drank it, and then I'd never get to see her.

"Well then, would you mind pouring me some while I deal with the anxious father?"

"Of course."

I lingered in the kitchen a little longer than was necessary to give her at least a semblance of privacy. I was attempting to block out their voices by concentrating extremely hard on the thoughts of someone jogging through the park, but when she mentioned my name, I couldn't help listening.

"So I hear you spoke to Edward. I hope you were polite."

"What? Did he tell you that?" Charlie's tone was anxious. I stifled a groan with difficulty, he obviously thought she was referring to my visit to Forks.

"Well duh, you called, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I called." Bella wasn't the only Swan that was lacking in the acting skills department; apparently the inability to lie convincingly was a genetic trait. "I admit I was surprised when he answered your phone."

"Did you think you'd interrupted kinky business?"

My mouth dropped open. I had never heard her speaking so boldly, and had never expected her to talk to Charlie like that. She smiled, winking at me.

"Isabella Marie!" he exploded.

She laughed raucously. "I'm sorry Dad, I was just teasing."

"You trying to give your old man a heart attack? I don't need those thoughts in my head, thank you very much. You want to talk about that stuff, you call your mother."

"But what if I need the male perspective?" she said innocently.

"I've got to go Bella, someone is here… I'll talk to you later. You should call Renee, she can help you with that… stuff." He babbled incoherently for a moment, then cut the call.

Bella positively roared with laughter. Clutching a cushion to her stomach, she rocked back and forth with tears streaming down her face.

"Oh, that was fun," she said, hiccupping her way to calm again. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, but it was too tempting to pass up."

"I'm not embarrassed," I lied unconvincingly. I was eternally gratefully that I couldn't blush, as otherwise my cheeks would be a flaming red by now. "I was just a little surprised."

"So was Charlie," she snorted. "Poor guy. Still, on the upside, it stopped him from interrogating me about my fainting spell."

I frowned.

"Hey, I'm not hiding anything!" she defended, seeing my reaction. "They know what happened, and my doctor knows what happened. All Charlie wanted to do was to check that I was okay, which I am, and that I will tell him if it happens again, which I will. I just saved him the cost of a long distance phone call."

She patted the seat beside her, and when I sat down, she climbed into my lap.

"Now, there was something we were going to discuss, wasn't there?" she said, pressing kisses to my cheeks.

"There was?"

For the life of me, I couldn't think what it was. In fact, I couldn't seem to think of anything but the way her warm lips felt against my skin. I prayed my body didn't betray me; she was sitting so close there would be no way she wouldn't notice it. She lingered at my ear, her soft breath brushing against my skin.

"Yes, there was." She pulled back to look at me. "We were going to talk about you watching me sleep."

"Oh!" All fears for my body's reaction vanished, as my heart sank. "Is there any chance of you thinking it's romantic?" I asked hopefully.

"That depends," she said thoughtfully. "What were you doing while you were watching?"

"I wasn't doing anything."

"So this isn't a fetish thing then? You don't go sneaking into your family's rooms and watch them sleep at night?"

"No!" I gasped, horrified. "I assure you it was perfectly innocent. I just liked watching you sleep; you looked so peaceful."

"And you don't secretly watch your family sleep?"

I shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to answer. We were heading into vampire territory now.

She misconstrued my discomfort and gasped. "You do?"

"No! I can't. I mean, I don't." I sighed. I may be revealing too much, but I would rather she knew a little more about our differences than think I had some weird fetish for watching people sleep. "We don't sleep, my family and I, one of our differences is that we don't sleep."

"So what do you do all night?" she asked.

"I count the minutes until I can be with you again."

"Okay, that's actually kinda sweet, I can see why you would find…" she trailed off, her eyes widening in horror. "Rosalie!"

"What about her?"

"Did she watch me sleep too?"

I laughed. "No, she stayed downstairs all night."

"Then why did she agree to a sleep over at all? I only asked because I felt bad for her driving home so late, I thought she'd be tired."

"Well she wasn't tired, but she did enjoy herself. We don't usually form relationships outside of the family; not everyone has your view about our differences. I think she enjoyed the chance to act like a normal college student for a change."

"Okay, we'll have to come up with some more 'normal' things to do together, then. No more sleepovers though, it's weird when you're the only one sleeping."

I chuckled. "Alice will be disappointed, I think she was hoping for an invite next."

"She'll survive," she said carelessly, getting to her feet and stretching. "Now it's time for me to eat, and for you to leave."

I tried very hard not to pout, but was not entirely successful. Laughing at my disappointed expression, she ushered me out of the door with the wrapped blooms she had put aside for Esme.

"Go make your mother happy, they like it when their sons bring them flowers."

Sighing heavily, I kissed her goodbye and trudged out to my car, wondering what I could do to Rosalie to pay her back for letting the food secret slip. I decided a scratched M3 would do.

Thank you to all who read and reviewed the last chapter. If you would like a teaser of the next chapter let me know in a review or a PM.

Simaril x