This is my Christmas/holiday present to you guys! A double post!

Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable characters or references. The characters belong to Stephanie Meyer. The only thing I own is the plot of this story.

Chapter 20: Running out of Time

EPOV

July 25, 2010

The house was quiet, too quiet. The house was never this silent. Despite the fact that it's a big house there was never a silence like this one. I got up from my desk and made my downstairs. I walked into all the rooms calling out everyone's names. No answer. I was home alone.

While being home alone doesn't sound like a big deal, lately it was to me. I was always alone these days. Mom was busy with her job or helping Alice with some wedding details. Dad was in the hospital a lot more these days. And Alice, well Alice was always wedding planning or out with Jasper.

Bella...Bella and I haven't been spending much time together. The little time that we have managed to spend together has been perfect. If it weren't for Jacob, I'd spend every chance with her. Just like old times.

With a sigh, I made my way into the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water. Standing in front of the kitchen window by the sink, I stared out. Sitting across my yard and in her yard was no one other than Bella. She was reading a book.

I placed my glass in the sink before walking outside and standing in front of the fence that separated our yard from theirs. Bella hadn't noticed me standing there. She was so lost in her book. I watched in amusement as her facial expressions changed according to whatever she was reading in the book.

That was one of the things I loved about her. Her love of books. To her, the characters and their stories were real. Even if she knew they were just fictional, she still cried, laughed, and got angry.

"Psst." I said trying to get her attention. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit but she kept on reading. "Pssssssssssssst" I said again. That got her attention as I was soon met with her brown eyes. She smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"What are you up to, Swan?" I asked her even though I could clearly see that she was reading. She lifted up her book to show me. I nodded once before climbing over the fence.

"You know, trespassing is against the law." She said to me. As if she could arrest me.

"Oh yeah? And what do you plan to do? Arrest me?" I asked. She simply smiled at me.

"I should, but then I'd probably receive a phone call asking me to go bail you out and we'd end up right where we started." She answered. I nodded in agreement. She was right, if either one of us landed in jail, the other one would either be sitting in the cell right next to the other or we'd call each other to help post bail. "So, what are you up to? Besides the obvious trespassing."

"Well, I was actually not doing anything important. I saw you from my window and decided to come out here and bother you." I said.

"You were creeping?" she said feigning shock. I looked at her.

"Yeah, I was creeping." I said before rolling my eyes. Technically I'm not lying either. But she doesn't have to know that. "Let's do something."

"Like what" she asked suddenly very excited.

"Oh, I don't know. Let's go to the park or something." I said as she smiled at me.

"Can we go to the meadow?" She asked. The meadow, I hadn't been there since…since the day after she had announced her engagement. "We can have a picnic just like old times!" she said even more excited. I couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm.

"Sure. Do you remember where the picnic basket is?" she nodded.

"Of course I do! And lucky for you, we did groceries yesterday. So there's plenty of food for us to take." She said before getting up and making her way towards the house.

I followed her inside and watched as she made her way around her kitchen. The way she moved captivates me. There was nothing I could do but watch her. She was so graceful when it came to the kitchen.

"Dessert?" I asked. She rolled her eyes at me before taking out some cookies from the cookie jar and placing them in a Ziploc bag and cutting a couple of slice of chocolate cake for us.

"Did you forget who you're talking to? The queen of the sweet tooth." She said handing both things to me. "I'm going to go upstairs and change. I'll be back soon!" she said before running out of the kitchen.

I sat down on at the isle and took a cookie out of the jar. It was only a matter of seconds before Maria walked into the kitchen.

"Edward, what are you doing here?" she asked me as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Hello Maria, I'm just waiting for Bella. She's getting changed." I said.

"Ah, I see. Are you going out?" she asked me.

"Yeah, we're going on a picnic." I said. Maria walked towards the fridge and opened it to retrieve a bottle of water.

"Aye Dios mio. Que vamos hacer con usteds?" she said. I looked at her. I didn't understand what she had said.

"Excuse me?" I asked. She looked at me with tender, caring eyes. She gave me a smile before walking over and placing a kiss on the top of my head.

"El amor es invisible y entra y sale cuando quiere, sin que nunca se les preguntó por sus actos.", Maria said before walking out of the kitchen. I sat there wondering what she just said. There was one word in that whole phrase that stood out to me. Amor, or love in Spanish.

I wasn't alone long enough to ponder what Maria was talking about though.

"I'm ready." I heard Bella's voice say. I turned and saw her standing there. I couldn't help myself. She looked beautiful.

"Okay, let's go." I said grabbing the basket and following her out the back door.

We walked towards the meadow. The walk was silent. But of course I didn't mind. And within no time we reached the meadow. I helped her set the blanket on the ground before sitting down.

"When was the last time we came here?" she asked. For me, last month. I took out the sandwiches from the basket.

"Right before we left for college. It was the day before the going away dinner. You and I snuck away to the meadow in the midst of all the chaos of getting ready to leave." I said.

"Oh right. Our moms were an emotional wreck that week. I mean remember how they broke down during dessert?" Yes, who could forget that.

"Oh yeah, I remember. I think the wine they'd been drinking also didn't help with that." I pointed out before taking another bite out of my sandwich.

"So, how are the wedding plans going?" I asked. Bella didn't answer. I looked up at her and noticed that she was staring in the other direction. "Bella?"

"What?" she asked clearly being brought out of her thoughts.

"I asked how the wedding plans were going?" she simply shrugged.

"They're good. You know Alice, she has everything under control. But I don't really want to walk about the wedding." She said. "How's the medical school search going?"

"It's going well. I'm going to take the MCATs in October. I already have a handful of schools that I'm applying to. One of which is where dad went." I explained.

"Well I'm sure wherever you choose to apply, that you'll get in. I'm also sure that you'll make Carlisle proud. And you're already making me very proud to be your best friend." She said.

"Yeah." I said before letting the silence come up again. I watched her as she fidgeted around with the grass. "You know Swan, the last few years weren't the same without you." I said .

"Yeah, they weren't the same without you either. But hey we have each other now." she said. I nodded. I almost said until she got married but then I decided against it. I didn't want to taint this place.

"Hey," she said causing me to look at her. "No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you. And you'll always hold a special place in my heart."

"Bells, you'll always have my heart." I said. Stupid Edward! Don't tell her that! Thankfully she must have not noticed seeing as she didn't say anything. "I'll always be here for you too. No matter for what it is, or when it is." I would always be there for her and she knew that. Bella gave me a smile before pulling me into a hug.

"I love you, Edward." I heard her say. Hearing those words come out of her mouth always made my heart swell. If only she how much those words coming from her mean for me. And if only she knew how much I wish she would mean them differently.

"I love you too, Bella." Always.

I held onto Bella, not wanting to let go. I never want to let go. The feel of her in my arms, it felt right. It was right. I heard her sniffling.

"Bella, why are you crying?" I asked her. I felt her shake her head before she buried her face into the crook of my neck.

I don't know why she's crying. I'm not going to pry her about it. I would do what I always do. I'll hold her and comfort her because that is what she needed right now. She didn't need Edward, the guy who's trying to win her heart; she needs Edward, her best friend.

"Sorry. I've just been so overwhelmed and stressed lately. I didn't mean to unleash the emotions." She said pulling away. No, don't pull away.

"Don't apologize. It's what I'm here for. I've always given you a shoulder to cry on. Don't forget that." I said. She nodded and sniffed.

"Thanks. Enough of the heavy though." She said before standing up and stretching. When she lifted her arms, her shirt rose a little exposing the creamy skin of her abdomen. I watched as he let her chocolate brown locks out of the hair tie and shook her hair out. While she did it at a normal pace, to me it felt like one of those scenes out of a movie.

You know what scene I'm talking about. The one where the beautiful girl does something so simple with her hair but it's shown in slow motion. And the sunlight is hitting just right. That's what was happening. I was captivated by her every movement.

"Let's climb the tree." She said breaking me out of the oogling I was doing.

"Bella, don't hurt yourself." I said watching her as she made her way towards the tree.

"You could help me, you know." She said. I placed my hands on her waist.

"Okay spider monkey, up you go." I had as I held onto her until she got her footing. And even then not leaving her alone. With her luck, she'd fall and probably break her leg this time instead of spraining her wrist like last time.

I climbed up behind her and we climbed up until we reached our usual spot. "You know, one day we're going to get too old to be climbing trees." I told her.

"Then we'll just have to figure out something else to do." She said as her melodious laughter rang around us. "Maybe, we could go rock climbing?"

"With our walkers?", I asked. She rolled her eyes at me.

"I don't know about you , but I don't plan on using a walker." She said. I just shook my head at her.

"Whatever you saw, Swan." I said. I noticed a strand of her hair had fallen in her face. I reached out and brushed the strand of hair behind her ear. She simply sat there and looked at me. I could see a light blush go across her face.

"And you'll do well to remember that, Cullen." She said laughing.

We spent hours in that tree. Talking, laughing, and reminiscing. It wasn't until I noticed the sun setting that I realized we needed to head back.

"We should head back." I said before beginning to climb down the tree. I didn't want to but we had too. I helped Bella down. We picked everything up before making our way back to the house.

~CWTL~

July 30th, 2010

"Edward, honey can you please go check the mail?" mom asked me. I nodded before making my way outside.

I opened the mail box and pulled out the mail. I quickly flipped through all the mail before stopping on a small square envelope with my name written on it. I recognized the handwriting to be Bella's. Curious, I opened it to see why she would put this in my mail box.

Mr. and Mrs. Swan & Mr. and Mrs. Black

Request your attendance to the union of their children,

Isabella Marie Swan & Jacob Black

That was all I read before putting the invitation back into the envelope. Time was running out. Every minute was a minute closer to that dreaded date.

There you have it! Hope you enjoy it. Read and Review! Love you guys!

Hope you're holidays were/are filled with lots of happiness and great moments that will turn into memories!

PS. Don't worry, something is coming very soon!