AN: Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to review! Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-One

BPOV

The next morning was full of laughing, chaos and goodbyes.

I woke up to find Edward poking at my neck, and I felt a sharp pain there.

"What are you doing?" I slapped his hand away and he went right back to prodding, making the pain even worse. "Stop it!"

"What happened?" I awkwardly titled my head until I could see Blondie's bite mark on my neck, looking blue and nasty, like some kind of spider bit me.

Let's get this over with. "Oh. That. Well, Blondie and Old Dreads found me and tried to kill me, but then Felix came along and saved the day. So now they're dead and we can go back to Italy."

He blinked several times, trying to absorb the information. "Who's Felix?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's a long story that I'd rather not get into." He would only hunt him down and rip his head off, anyway.

"So… we're leaving?"

"I'm hungry!" I heard Seth wail from upstairs. I snorted and said to myself, what the hell, you're already turning into a soft and mushy hopeless romantic, and figured I could brush up on my cooking skills. Now, back to the question at hand.

"Yep. Now, I've got to go make some pancakes."

He looked up, finally reacting. "You're going to make pancakes? You must be in a good mood… hey, we're leaving! I can see my family again!"

The way his eyes lit up made me smile immediately and forget about everything else in the world. On the inside, I really didn't even care anymore that the edgy, sarcastic side of me had slowly disintegrated without my noticing. I was turning out to be… nice. I'll never be as nice as Edward is, but I'm not the same bitch I used to be.

It wasn't like people liked me before, anyway.

He hopped out of bed, the bite on my neck long forgotten, and swung me around in his arms like I was a ragdoll. I couldn't help but chuckle at his joy as he took us to the kitchen, sitting down on his lap once we reached the table. I never did make those pancakes, but I don't think the dogs cared, besides some minor bitching from Leah. You can expect that from her, anyway.

"Everyone," I called out. "I have an announcement."

"We get to go into the adults only room!" I heard several children shout. Rolling my eyes, I impatiently (let's face it: that's never going to change) waited for them all to file into the kitchen in one big, furry heap and spoke.

"So, as well all know, we've been here because Blondie and Old Dreads went psycho when they found out that their wife had died." Well, Blondie's wife, as far as I knew. Some people shared better than others.

"Last night, Blondie and Old Dreads died. And guess what that means?"

They all looked so shocked that no one bothered to guess what they were all hoping.

"That's right: we're leaving!"

There was a lot of cheering and laughing going on, the high-fives that were being passed around giving me a headache from the smell.

Everyone reacted except for Leah. "I want food," she moaned.

"Why don't you go to Pet Smart? I'm sure they've got your favorite kibble."

I looked back out at them and smiled, not letting Leah bring me down. They all looked shocked to see anything on my face besides a scowl, and I showed my teeth to give the menacing effect.

I hadn't changed completely, after all.

She gave me a dirty look and stalked out of the room, leaving a trail of stench in case we needed to find her. I smiled and looked up at Edward's flawless face, realizing that I wasn't going to miss this place at all.

I would miss the memories, though.

Another Person Inside- Another Person Inside- Another Person Inside

"I know, I know, Aro. I'll be safe. I promise."

I was standing in the building for probably the last time, rolling my eyes as he rambled on and on about all of the precautions I should take to get home.

"And make sure that you wear something that will break your fall if, for some reason, the plane crashes unexpectedly."

"I'm a vampire. It wouldn't hurt if I fell." I would've thought that would be fairly obvious to someone of my same kin.

He sighed. "Just be careful, Bella. I don't want anything to happen to my only daughter."

I smiled slightly and didn't bother correcting him. "I will, Dad. I have to go."

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too." I was surprised to find that I wasn't lying when I said that. I really would miss my father.

"I…I love you, Bella."

Well, that tore at my heartstrings. "I love you, too, Dad. Goodbye."

He nodded and walked back to his chair, looking as powerful as always. I had one more thing to do, though, before I could leave this part of my life behind for forever.

"Aro? I have one more thing to ask of you, if I may?"

He nodded, waiting. "Anything."

I smiled. "Get Heidi to give Felix another chance. He meant well."

He grimaced, but then his face smoothed out. "I'll… do what I can. I can't make any promises, though."

"Thanks."

I blew him an air-kiss, something I hadn't done…well, ever, and walked out of the house/castle to find Edward waiting for me.

"Ready, Love?"

I nodded and we walked hand in hand back to my old house, where the wolves were still eating their breakfasts. I took my time walking around the house, reliving some old memories that I had, and taking things with me that I knew I would want in Forks.

Who would've known that I would miss Italy so much?

I made my way to the bedroom and sat down on the bed, smiling sadly. This room was the first place Edward and I had ever lived together in, and it felt like I was leaving behind an important part of me. I looked over to the bedside table and saw something… a small piece of paper with Edward's handwriting on it. Curiously, I made my way over to the bed and was just about to pick it up when Edward burst through the door, looking anxious.

"Um, hello."

I nodded. "What's this?"

He looked sheepish now, and I knew something was up. "Please don't read that."

His voice sounded small all of the sudden, like he was ashamed of the piece of paper. My eyebrows lifted. "Why not?"

"Because it's personal."

I shrugged. "Okay. I can learn not to be a nosy bitch."

Actually, I knew for a fact that I could never change from being a nosy bitch, but I didn't feel the need to share that with him. He walked around me and shoved it in his pocket, grinning.

"Thank you. And I don't mind you being a nosy bitch… it's part of who you are."

Wait a minute… did Edward just say, "bitch"? I hopped off the bed and squealed; feeling like my life was complete. He stared at me, confused, and walked out of the room.

I laughed and looked around the room, not feeling quite so sad anymore. Edward seemed to have that effect on me.

I sat in the living room and talked with the dogs about stupid things for a while and Jacob and I bitched at each other, which had always been our best way of bonding.

"I can see your roots."

I knew for a fact that he couldn't see my roots. "Well, at least I don't have to reapply deodorant every ten minutes!"

He pouted at me while I stepped into the kitchen, picking up on a familiar scent. I looked around to see that the mysterious coffee maker that had been giving me hell for the past week was gone, replaced with a note. I felt a slight amount of annoyance that I would never know where it came from, exactly, but mostly I was just happy that I would never have to look at the horrendous contraption again.

I couldn't figure out the handwriting on the note. All it said was, "Sorry".

Felix POV

Ha. She never did figure out that I put that coffee machine there… It's probably for the best.

BPOV

Edward had everything we were taking in his arms, because, as usual, he refused to let me carry anything. What else is new?

"Just let me carry something?" I begged him.

He smirked. "No."

The world was finally sane again as I scowled.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful…until we reached the ground. For once, it actually felt nice to be back in Forks, Washington.

It felt like home.

Things got very eventful after that, though. We dropped the wolves off at home and checked in with Charlie, letting him know that we were okay.

"Where were you?" he exploded as we walked in.

We smiled knowingly. "We took a little road trip. I hope it didn't cause too much of a fuss."

He scowled. "It caused a bit more than a 'fuss'. I had police out everywhere looking for you!"

Not everywhere, Charlie.

Edward stepped in before things could get ugly. "We're sorry, Chief Swan. Things got a little bit out of hand. It'll never happen again."

His face softened up a little bit. "Fine. I guess I'm just glad you kids are okay."

I smiled as he gave us each a pat on the back. "Now, get out of here."

We left knowing that everything would be al right and went back to where it all started: the tree. I guess at this stage in the relationship, it would be okay to share it.

"Hey, Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?"

I took a deep breath. "We can share my tree."

He gave me a smile and a wink. "Thank you."

We sat back against it and I noticed that his shoulders had tensed up a bit.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." His voice sounded off and very, very nervous; it was high and squeaky, as opposed to his usual low and smooth voice.

"Just tell me." He was making me nervous, now.

He breathed in deeply before standing up. "Damn it! This wasn't how it was supposed to go…"

I raised an eyebrow. "How what was supposed to go?"

"Will you marry me?" he blurted out, looking like he was going to pass out.

I stared at him in shock, my mouth hanging wide open. "Repeat?"

He closed his eyes. "Bella… I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you please marry me?"

I crinkled my nose. On one hand, I wanted to marry him… I really did. On the other hand… who knows what could happen? I decided that it was time to finally take a leap of faith.

"Yes, Edward. I would fucking love to marry you."

He grinned widely and kissed me, picking me up off of the ground. What he said next was far worse than ever getting married, though…

"Now, all we have to do is go meet the family."

Oh, fuck.

AN: The next chapter is the last. :( Please take the time to review, if you can. :) New update tomorrow!

Love,

Evangeline