BPOV

I had to adjust on the squishy sand beneath me for what seemed like the fourth time. It wasn't completely uncomfortable on my leg, just weird. I never thought that taking Edward to my therapy session with Felix would lead to this vacation. Edward had been distant and I knew I let him keep his distance from me.

I think most of all I was afraid of where we were headed. I even called Dad and talked to him about me moving back home. I didn't tell Edward and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have even noticed, but when Alice went back to her place I started to feel like I was actually alone.

Dad kept saying he would come and get me, but something in me kept putting it off. Then yesterday happened and now we were lying on the beach in our swimsuits. He did a complete one-eighty.

I smiled as I looked down at him. Edward's worn Red Sox's cap rested over his face as he napped. Though we were under the huge umbrella he set up, I made sure we applied sun block every hour. I hated burning and Edward was starting to turn pink. He started to shift and moved his cap to sit backwards on his head.

"Ya okay, gorgeous?" he squinted at me as he sat up.

"Yeah, the sa-sand feels weird," I explained.

He started to play with the string of my bikini bottoms. "Wanna go in?"

"Not really. I just need to get used to it," I sighed.

"Want me ta take off the brace? We can go in the water for a bit?"

When I called and told Felix about this last minute trip, he gave me his full support. He also told me it was okay to take off my brace if I wanted to go in the water. My x-rays last week had shown that everything from the surgeries was healing nicely. The only thing that bothered me was the nasty scar covering almost my whole leg.

"Okay," I murmured, looking down after feeling really self-conscious in the moment.

I watched Edward unhook the straps of my brace very carefully and gently remove it from my leg. I winced from the dull ache starting to pulse within it.

"Baby, did I do something wrong?" he asked as he cupped my face.

"No," I breathed out, closing my eyes. "Just takes a bit for me to get used to it being off."

"Maybe this was a bad idea," he mumbled.

I tugged on his arm getting his attention. "I wan-want us to have fun. We need fun. Please take me swimming?"

His broken green eyes were filled with want. "Can I kiss ya?"

I sat forward as best as I could and kissed him purposefully. "You never need to as-ask," I told him seriously.

"I don't want to cross any…" he started before I stopped him.

"With you there are no lines, Edward. I'm yours for as long as you want me here. I know how hard everything was for us after the accident, but if we're ever going to truly work we need get over all the bullshit."

"How'd ya get so strong?" he asked as his voice broke.

"Therapy," I answered honestly.

I was tired of the crying and the fogginess. My surgeons from the hospital referred me to some excellent PTSD and post-neural surgery therapists. I had medications switched and dosages altered; I even had been weaned off some of the medications I had been on.

"I can't let what happ-happened define me, Edward. You can't either. I see now how much this has affected you," I said, catching his eyes with mine.

"It kills me that it was ya that got hurt. Everyday I wake up and I know yar hurt. I want ta hurt for ya," he murmured.

I gently grabbed his face and rested my forehead against his. His eyes closed and I felt a shuddered breath leave him.

"Take me swimming," I said against his lips.

He kissed me back, nodding. I slipped my sunglasses back on since we were leaving the shade and wrapped my arms around his neck. He carefully cradled me to him as he lifted me.

"Ya, okay?"

"Yeah," I smiled, biting my lip. A sudden bubble of excitement consumed me.

It had been months since we had been like this and suddenly this trip was giving me hope; a hope that Edward and I could overcome that darkness.

"Ready?" he grinned as I looked down at the water hitting his feet.

"Don't lea-leave me in suspense," I giggled, brushing my nose against his.

He moved forward slowly until he was in the water elbow deep. The water was great since we had hardly any waves to fight and it wasn't too shockingly cold from the recent heat wave.

"How ya likin' this wata, gorgeous?"

I kissed him quick. "It feels good on my leg."

"Things are gonna be changin' for the betta, okay? I promise ya B. I'm gonna be what ya need," he rasped.

"You're too hard on yourself."

"And yar too forgivin'."

His head leaned down, sucking in my bottom lip. A breath shuddered out of me when his arm that was under my legs left me so I was floating and his hand came up to cup my breast. We groaned at the same time against each other's mouths.

"I've missed you," I whispered shyly, bring my hand down to stroke his erection.

"Do you wanna?" he paused, taking a gulp. "Have ya eva had sex in the ocean?"

I shook my head, looking up at him through my lashes. "How would we, um what if we get caught?"

"Private beach and no one's here during the week," he smirked before untying his trunks.

I watched him slide them off and throw them as they landed in the sand with a thwap.

"Leave the top on; we'll just work with the waist down," he winked.

He untied the side of my bikini bottoms throwing them where his trunks laid. I let my face hit Edward's chest and mumbled against his pec. "I can't be-believe we're doing this."

"Believe it," he laughed, pulling me away so he could see my face. "How we gonna do this?"

I treaded for a second before hooking my good leg around his hip. He grinned, moving forward as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I felt how hard he was against my stomach and slowly brought my lips to his.

"Mmm, ya feel good, gorgeous," he groaned.

I pulled up a little further, balancing myself on his hip and I felt a slight breeze on my ass telling me I was exposed. Edward's hands came down resting on my ass as he held me closer.

"The leg okay?" he asked concerned.

I felt my foot hit in between his calves. My bum leg was just there, nothing started to hurt yet.

"It's good," I nodded. "Um, can move a bit further out."

"Ya don't want yar ass out for all the world ta see, huh?"

"No," I shook my head. "Only you get to see it."

"I agree with that," he sighed, leaning down to kiss me again.

He moved us until the water was hitting my lower back. I shifted against him as the tip of him brushed my clit.

"Fuck," he choked out.

I kissed him again, feeling the yearning that I was used to when we were intimate like this. I moved again, tugging my fingers at the nape of his neck to coax his head down. "I want you inside me," I whispered in his ear.

"Don't have ta tell me twice," he said while he slowly entered me.

I cried out, tightening around him. It really had been too long, but he felt great. The doctors believed my low sex drive had been caused by my medication, not my head injury. Since being switched to a different one, I noticed how wet I would become when I saw Edward changing for work or coming out of the shower. I hoped that this trip would be a stepping-stone for our intimacy.

"The water makes this feel weird, but a go-good weird," I blurted while he moved within me.

"I would go fasta maybe, but I don't think I can," he panted and I had to giggle because it was like we were fucking in Jell-o.

"Jesus, why ya laughing?" he laughed too.

"It's… it's like slow motion fucking," I moaned as he thrusted and angled me back. He hit a good spot.

"And not to mention you're wearing sunglasses," he snorted, balancing me more on the side my leg was hitched on.

His hand made its way down, rubbing my clit and I knew I wasn't going to last long. My head lulled on his shoulder and his face buried in the crook of my neck. We stayed that way while we met each other's thrusts. His finger rubbed my clit and I brought my fingers down to brush the underside of his balls. He almost lost it right then and I felt triumphant.

"I'm not gonna last thanks ta ya," he mumbled against my neck.

He pinched my clit causing me to shriek and see stars at once and as I contracted around him, he lost his shit too. His teeth sunk into my shoulder as he yelled my name. I knew that this was exactly what we needed. Our moment of pure bliss was ruined when Edward felt something that wasn't me brush his leg.

He literally squealed adjusting me so my leg would be okay. He ran us back over to the blanket where I covered my lower half with a towel. Edward gave me a quick peck before he cupped himself and ran back to our discarded suits. I giggled the whole time he held himself.

"Aren't you going to pu-put them back on?" I asked as he lifted the towel and scooted closer to me.

"And have sand in my crack, not ta mention around my balls. Nah thanks."

"Nah, thanks?" I mocked in a Boston accent.

"Oh no, with ya starting that shit," he laughed, cupping my boob and biting my bottom lip.

"I love you," I said against his lips with a smile.

"I'm gonna do better, Bell," he murmured. "I love ya and I've been shitty at showin' it, but ya'll know yar loved."

I kissed him again. "I know you love me, Edward."

He pulled on the string of my top, successfully removing it. We took it upon ourselves to start round two on the beach this time.

A couple hours later I sat at the counter with my leg propped up on the opposing chair, watching Edward make us dinner. We decided to be lazy for the night, me wearing his t-shirt and him in his cargos and Sox hat. He had it on backwards and he was looking good. He moved around making us baked ziti and I can't tell you how excited that made me. He was an absolutely brilliant chef.

"Yar droolin'," he snorted, holding my chin between his thumb and pointer finger.

"Do you get how good this all looks? I can't wa-wait for it to hit the oven."

He leaned down giving me a kiss before going back to his culinary masterpiece.

"Hay, what do ya say about us maybe buyin' a place down here?" Edward asked casually kind of not looking at me.

"You want to buy a house? Here? For us?" I countered back, swiping a piece of mozzarella.

"Well, I'm askin' what ya think of the idea."

"A house here would be a lifetime investment," I nodded.

"Yeah, it really would. So, whatchya think?"

"What are we really talking about here?" I murmured because this was a serious subject for us, especially with everything we'd been through.

"My uncle's been talkin' about doing renovations ta the bar. He wants me takin' over. I'm thinkin' about makin' it a restaurant as well. Bigga than what it is now, hirin'more staff. It's gonna be mine. Aunt Didi wants ta move ta Florida. This is gonna be huge for me… for us, babe."

"So you want to buy us a house in Nantucket," I stated slowly.

"And a brownstone in Cambridge," he added.

"For us."

"For us," he repeated.

"Is this your way of proposing?"

"Do ya want a proposal, gorgeous?"

"Things have been fu-fucked," I told him bluntly.

"Ya want me ta lay out everything right now?" he asked determined.

"Let me hear it," I encouraged, linking my fingers with his and tugging him to me so he was beside me.

"I want ta get us a brownstone or maybe a house. I saw one in Somerville for sale the other day as I was drivin' through. Babe, it was gorgeous and I know ya would fall in love with it… I wanna then get ya a ring because I want to marry ya, Bell. I know I've been wicked shitty, but outta anythin' I learned from this whole fucked up mess is that our time is precious and I've not seen that. I've been squanderin' it like a fuckin' prick."

I cupped his face, pulling him to me. "Do you want to do all of this when we get back?"

He stared at me, his green eyes searching my brown ones. I could see all of his emotions playing through his eyes. "I want whateva ya want Bell."

Still holding his face, I told him the truth. "Up until yesterday I was con-contemplating going ba-back home to Forks. My dad wanted to come and get me. I felt a-alone. You came home every night and held me, but you wer-weren't really there. I can't go through something like that again Edward. I ca-can't have you absent when the going gets tough. I understand that we're both going through a lot, but in this relationship or even in a marriage you can't just step out like that."

His face was pained, as I knew it would be, but he needed to see he wasn't the only one struggling in all of this. He blamed himself for so much that wasn't in his hands.

"Baby, I want you to talk to someone," I whispered.

"I'm talkin' ta you," he rasped.

"Someone not connected to the situation," I sighed, brushing my thumb against his cheek.

His eyes dropped and I could see the look of defeat. He thought he had failed. Whether he thought it was with our relationship or just the situation, I couldn't tell. I let my palms squeeze his cheeks, gaining his attention again.

"I think us mov-moving on like you want is a good thing and when we get back maybe we can look at the house in Somerville."

"There's a but," he mumbled.

"N-no buts. I want us both in a good place if we get married, Edward. I want to be so happy walking to-toward you… to our beginning and forever. I don't want any bitterness still lingering. I want our marriage to lead to th-things, good things. We could start a family because I want babies with you," I laughed, feeling my tears. "I want so much, but you have to let all of this hate and resentfulness go. It is taking over and you're not that kind of man."

Edward was crying now too and I used my thumbs to brush his tears away. I think I finally drilled my point into his head. In order for us to move forward, he was going to need help.

"Yar the only person I could ever love… my other half. Ya know?"

"Same goes for you. We can only move forward."

"Only forward," he leaned down, kissing me deeply.

A/N: Please tell me you're still here… don't be discouraged! Part 2 of the vacation shall be next! Dolphin62598 and rainydays23 are my beta's huge thanks to them! Saw Batman and it was the best thing I've ever seen…