A/N: Foxyvictorianagurl – Thank you for your time and encouragement, as requested:

Warning: This chapter nearly caused the death of one Beta who vaguely knew the contents, only read while sitting down with a box of chocolates.

Chapter 14 –

Edward's POV

I made breakfast for Bella the next morning as she showered, wondering at her thoughts yet again. She'd acted as she normally did this morning, the only signs that she'd spent the night crying were the dried tear tracks on her cheeks and the stains on my t-shirt. It was good that she'd recovered so quickly... and a little concerning. What was going on in her head? If only I could hear her thoughts as I heard everyone else's. If only I could hate Jacob Black, and take this out on him.

But it was impossible to fault him for loving Bella – she was so beautiful and smart, so compassionate and wise – or to blame him for making her cry when all he'd done was mourn her loss. I had done the same so many times, wishing for the ability to cry. That he had that power, and had wept as she left, was not something I could use against him. Even if it had caused her sadness last night. Surprised at the respect I was giving the mutt, I focused on the chocolate-chip pancakes I was frying; Bella's secret pleasure.

When she emerged in jeans and a long sleeve black t-shirt – not something my sister would have bought her – I placed her food down and gave her a considering look. Her hair was down in waves, hiding half her face, but she hadn't done anything else unusual. She ate slowly, quietly, and I let her have her peace.

The same continued on the drive to college. She let me drive, which was odd, and sat silently for most of the trip, a notebook in her lap that she didn't study. I offered to meet her after her classes, she declined and said she'd see me later, at her place.

When I turned up at her house as she was making dinner, she told me she wanted to have dinner with Charlie and sent me upstairs to wait for her. Then after dinner she came and studied at her computer, wrote an email to Renee and only spoke to ask me if I knew something she couldn't find on Google, or if I could get her textbook from the other side of the room. Sometimes I'd look up from the book I was re-reading – Wuthering Heights, at her insistence – and find her staring into space, caught up in some unpleasant thought that turned the corners of her mouth down.

This continued over the next few days, though she talked a little more about her day and other meaningless things: "I have to write a report for my British Literature class this afternoon, so I'll stay at the library late. Some of the other girls are having a study session; it should be fun." The sentences were longer, but I still wasn't getting anything from her.

The only sign I had that she wanted me there at all were the hugs she'd allow me as she got out of the car, the way she gripped my shirt in her sleep. The easy confidence she had in snuggling up in my lap as she went to sleep. At least in her dreams, she asked me to stay; asked me to love her like she loved me.

On the fourth day – a Saturday - I gave in. She had spent the morning at the college's cafe library; though she'd told me before that she preferred to work at home, then she'd come home and started making lunch. I was beginning to feel like a stalker, following her around and trying to talk to her. Now she sat on her bed, looking up at me with those huge brown eyes, like I was about to tell her I'd eaten her father.

Bella's POV

Don't be an idiot, Bella, I mentally scolded, even as I confessed what had been on my mind. There was only so much I could resist and after ten minutes of questioning and heart-stopping eye contact with those smouldering golden pools, I could go on no longer. He knew me too well.

"It's my birthday next month, and it just got me thinking about everything." I blushed and gave him a remorseful look. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that he had left me, that at one point he had been able to look me in the eye and say 'I don't love you, I don't want you.' But once I remembered, the doubts were inescapable. Perhaps, if I pushed him in any way – like by suggesting we spend forever together – he would also remember and decide he'd been mistaken and he really didn't want me.

I was torn by feeling ridiculous for thinking like this with him looking at me as he was and by wanting to go curl up in a hole somewhere and hide from it all.

His eyebrows rose fractionally and he gave me a hard look, "Everything?" He gave nothing else away.

I bit my lip. "About my life. My friends and family and my job and the future. And us." I stumbled over my words, desperate to not lose him and to make him see and to escape this conversation, all at once.

The hard look remained. "What are you trying to say, Bella?"

I struggled to think of the right way to explain, wondering where the adult Bella of the last two years had gone. "I don't know. I want... something more." I shook my head, "I don't know. I want to be with you... forever. Not to be weak, like this, always on the verge of losing you."

"Bella, do not regret growing older, it's a privilege denied to many." He stated, turning away from me and staring out the window. I expected him to leave and watched for several long minutes, waiting for the sound of the window sliding open. Would I even be able to see him go, or would it be too fast?

I heard him sigh, "Breathe, love." I complied shakily, watching as he moved to sit in the rocking chair, watching me in return.

"I suppose it could be worse. I thought you were... breaking up with me." He gave me a slight smile.

I laughed softly; without humour.

"Relax, Bella, I'm not going anywhere. Well, not unless you want me to." The smile was still there, but there was apprehension and sadness in his eyes.

"Don't you know I love you?" I frowned at him.

He chuckled and walked over to sit in front of me. "I love you to, trust me; so much. I couldn't live without you." He leaned in, kissing me fiercely and pulling away much too soon. His eyes sparkled in the dim lamp light. "Do you really want to be with me for all eternity?"

"Yes," I replied immediately, maybe a little too enthusiastically because he laughed again. "Absolutely every day of forever."

He leaned his forehead against mine, smiling, "Every minute of forever."

"Every second." I replied quietly.

"Then it's unavoidable, isn't it?"

I nodded as much as I could without moving my head away from his, grinning like a fool.

"Can I ask you to do one thing for me first, Bella?" He asked solemnly, his eyes both searching and smiling at their findings.

"What is it?"

"Marry me, Isabella Marie Swan. Will you marry me and spend every second of forever with me?" His fingers threaded through mine and squeezed lightly.

Edward's POV

Her eyes searched my face, her grin faltering and I watched as a single tear rolled over her cheek; using our joint hands to brush it away. She opened her mouth and closed it again. Her heart stammered out a staccato rhythm in the quiet, her breaths halting. I stopped breathing all together, waiting.

She opened her mouth again as another tear fell and whispered, "Yes."

"Yes?" I whispered back, watching the way her lips curved into a slow smile and her warm eyes crinkled at the corners.

"Yes." She repeated louder, her eyes daring me to question her acceptance.

And so I didn't. I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers, kissing each corner of her mouth, her forehead, her nose, both her cheeks. "God help me, but I love you, Bella." I kissed along the edge of her jaw. "I adore you." Down her neck and across her collarbone. "I worship you." Back up the other side of her neck, my lips hovering just over hers. "Forever." And she crushed her lips against mine, smiling as I kissed her back and stole her breath.

"I love you too, Edward Anthony Mason Cullen, you better remember that from now on." She murmured with a mock stare, before pulling me closer and kissing me fiercely.

A/N: Don't I deserve a review for that?