I left Edward waiting outside long enough.

Chapter 21

He's still standing there. Green eyes are still looking down at me. He looks just as surprised as I do when I open the door. Maybe he was expecting for me to leave him out here?

I wait for him to do something or say anything. I count to ten.

"Bella," he finally says and his lips turn into a smile.

He takes a step toward me and with all the confusion swirling around in my head I don't react by taking a step back. I'm paralyzed in place. He doesn't stop; He takes three more steps. He only stops when he's standing directly in front of me. I tell myself to take a step back and just when I think I've finally convinced myself to pull away from him, he pulls me into his arms. I hear the intake of breath he takes as he holds me close to him. My eyes widen as my heartbeat increases in my chest. His arms go around my back, but my arms stay stiffly by my side.

When he notices that I'm not throwing myself at him, he pulls away from my body, but doesn't release my hands. Green eyes are focused only on me. I look away, not understanding the awe I see in his eyes. I pull away and finally take the step back that until then I've been unsuccessful to take.

I open my mouth, wanting to apologize for slamming the door in his face or maybe just to greet him, or maybe to demand what he's doing in Seattle, but my lips only succeed to open and close like a fish. I mentally slap myself. I'm about to stick my hand out and hopefully be successful at giving him a handshake, but stop myself. My hands are trembling just as much as my heart seems to be in my chest.

I open my mouth, not really knowing what I'm actually going to say or what might actually come out, but I'm cut off by his lips. Lips that are suddenly on my own. My eyes widen and my jaw drops. He takes advantage of the opportunity. What the hell is going on I wonder as I stand there paralyzed being kissed like I never have before by a man that I knew very little about, but whose lips were treating me like an old friend. His arms are quick to go around me again and I feel myself being led back inside the apartment, all the while his lips not leaving mine. I feel his tongue coaxing my lips open and somehow they listen. My knees become weak, but his arms are there helping me stay upright. He's making this feel too good to where I'm hesitating in pushing him away. I feel myself being pushed against the wall. My brain tries to convince my body that I should be stopping this. I move my head to the side, but Edward doesn't stop his sweet torture. My arms go up his arms and to his shoulders with the intention of pushing him away, but all they succeed to do is wrap themselves across his body. His body leans against mine and I can feel just how I'm affecting him.

His lips crawl down my neck. Goosebumps erupt across my body when he kisses behind my ear and he releases his breath.

"Ed-Edward?"

"Mmm?" he lips mumble against my neck, distracting me.

I moan as he runs his mouth up and down.

"We need to stop."

He continues, ignoring what I've just said.

"We should talk," I say, but my hands only bring him closer to me.

His lips slowly move back up toward mine and he places one final kiss upon them. The part of my brain that isn't fogged by lust is disappointed that he actually listened to me, but yet I can't help but smile. He is a gentlemen.

He murmurs in agreement as he takes the smallest step back, but his arms don't leave my waist. He smiles down at me and even though I can't help but to smile back I also can't help but to feel that I'm missing something that he's already found.

"I guess it's my turn to behave," he says as he looks down at me. The smirk on his lips let's me know that he's proud of himself.

My eyebrows furrow. His turn?

"Can I come in?" he asks as I stare into eyes that I had just only seen in pictures a few hours ago.

It takes me a minute to process his words, since I'm still in shock that not only is he here, but that he's also just kissed me as if he's done it so many times before. I want to tell him that he's already inside, but instead I just nod my head. He smiles as he makes his way over to the living room. I walk over to the door, praying that none of Emmett and Rosalie's neighbors received a front row seat to our display. I take a look around the hallway and don't see anyone. I quickly close the door and quietly make my way toward the living room where Edward is standing.

He's stays in place as he looks around the apartment. I see recognition cross his features when he sees photos of Rosalie around the living room. He picks up the frame that sits on the coffee table next to him.

"Emmett?" he questions me and I look at the picture he's holding. It's from their days at U-Dub. Rosalie has her arms wrapped around Emmett shoulders while they both stare directly at the camera. Their smiles are so big.

I nod my head.

"He looks just like you described him," he says as he places the frame down and the smile on his face only seems to grow.

All the while I stand awkwardly in front of him, shifting from one leg to another, stupidly wondering what else my loose lips had told him while we were together in Vegas. As I try not to stare, but fail miserably, I stupidly wonder if he's feeling just as uncomfortable as I am. The smile he wears and the casualness in his stance is telling me otherwise. God, seeing him in pictures is one thing, but having him standing in front of me is almost too much. He's gorgeous and I'm speechless.

He moves closer to me and takes my hand in his.

"You're rather quiet."

I look down at the floor. I had so many questions to ask, so many things to say and yet having him standing in front of me everything I had to say makes it's self unknown.

"You do remember me, right?" he says jokingly and I'm sure he only says that because he must see all the confusion written on my face.

"Of course I do!" I say quickly and rather loudly. I see him take a deep breath and his deep chuckle vibrates through me.

"Good because walking in here like I did, without you remembering who I am, would have been more then awkward." His rambling tells me that maybe he is just as nervous as I am. I take a deep breath and tell myself to act mature about this. I was going to go looking for him in a couple of days anyways, he just beat me to the awkwardness.

"How did you find me?" I say because honesty that was the first thought that came to me when I saw him standing at the door. He plays with the bracelet around my wrist. I almost want to take it off; Jacob had gotten it for me this past Christmas. I must show my discomfort because he quickly releases my wrist.

"You weren't that hard to track, Isabella Swan," he responds with a smile firmly in place. He chuckles as my cheeks flame red. I have no idea why they do. He removes and places his large backpack I hadn't noticed onto the floor and kneels down next to it. He starts opening up zippers and I'm more then sure he's looking for something. My eyes hopelessly wander down to his ass.

"I almost kicked my own ass when I realized that I never asked you for your number that night," he says as he digs around his bag, "but honestly I had other things in mind." he looks up at me and winks. My face flames red. I know why this time.

"I went to the address you gave," he stops moving things around his bag and looks up at me rolling his eyes before continuing, "Jacob didn't tell me much, but he did give me this address. He told me to ask for Emmett."

"Jacob gave you this address? Wait you met Jacob?" I ask bewildered. I thought he would have asked Edward more questions then start giving out addresses to strangers.

"Yes, I told him I was your cousin," he explains with a shrug of his shoulders.

"My cousin?" I ask stupidly. He stands back up with an envelope in his hand. I stare at it, willing myself to be able to see through it.

"And he believed you?" I question again, still bewildered.

"He thought I had flown in for the wedding."

I'm surprised that he doesn't sound surprise to learn that I was supposed to be getting married this weekend. As I see his face remain neutral I realize that I had more then likely let him know all about Jacob while I was sipping back shots of tequila last weekend. I nod to let him know that I was listening because honestly I didn't know what to say. I was talking to my husband about the guy who was supposed to be my husband. This wasn't supposed to be happening. I look around the room and distract myself by looking into the direction of the kitchen.

"Would you like something to drink?" I ask because I know I've been rude, but also because I needed a moment to myself. "Water?"

He nods his head and I quickly leave the room, going into the kitchen and getting him a bottled water. I grab one for myself one too. I probably take longer then I should, but that's only because I try to put my thoughts in order. Him coming to find me made all my previous thoughts worthless.

He had yet to mention anything about our wedding. He hadn't said one word about it and a part of me wondered if he even knew. But how could he not; why else would he be here? What would make him travel hundreds of miles in order to find me? I take a peek toward the living room and he's casually sitting on the couch. He's looking at the envelope in his hands. That damn envelope. I go back into the kitchen and pace around the small area that I'm given.

Did he want to get rid of me so soon that he couldn't wait a couple more days for to me to travel to Vegas? Is that why he had bothered to travel so far? I shake my head, no, that couldn't be true, he didn't know I was going to be traveling to Vegas in order to find him and begin the process of our separation. But still, it's not like he had to worry about me actually being tied to him when I was hundreds and hundreds of miles away from where he was. The dream I had had last night runs through my mind. Jacob's voice screaming inside my head that I wasn't good enough. I shake my head I couldn't judge him from a dream.

I shake my head. I can't believe I married a stripper.

I walk back into the living room when I've composed myself enough and hand over the water when I make my way back to him. He's standing now and looking around the photos in the small living room. His eyes had been focused on the picture of Emmett, Jacob and me. It was when I had gone with them to a baseball game last year. I nod toward the couch he was previously sitting on and he quickly sits down; the damn envelope still in his hand. I sit in the chair facing him and stare at the envelope he places on the table between us.

He takes a deep drink of his water and I do the same just so I won't have to fill in the silence. I'm ready to talk, but I don't know where to begin. The silence that follows makes me think that he doesn't know where to start either.

I stare into green eyes. I take a deep breath and release it.

"Why did you come looking for me, Edward?"

"I told you I would when you asked," he shrugs his shoulders as if it's not a big deal that he's traveled hundreds of miles to be here.

"I asked you to come?" I ask more confused then I was a minute ago.

He nods his head, but that doesn't answer any of the questions running through my mind.

"Why would you listen to me?" I question both bewildered and awed.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." The smile he wears only tells me that he's telling the truth.

I nod, biting my lip and looking away from him.

"Do you want me here, Bella?" he leans forward, his elbows bent against his knees. The sincerity in his voice makes me look back at him. His green eyes are so vibrant. I didn't realize how much I missed them.

"This is all so confusing," I mumble, answering him and all the emotions that are running through me.

"What's so confusing about me being here?" he questions, leaning back against the couch.

"Edward, we're practically strangers," I say, reminding him.

"I don't-"

"Edward, you need to know that..."

"What?"

"I don't know how to tell you this, but while we were in Vegas...we got married."

He's not freaking out. He doesn't even blink. He stays sitting causally on the sofa.

"Why aren't you freaking out?"

"That I'm your husband?" He shrugs his shoulders as I nod my head.

"Why would I freak out over that?"

"You didn't freak out when I said husband, I'm guessing you remember that we got married?" He asks after a moment. He runs his hand through his hair and it reminds me that he did that a lot when we were together a week ago. I'm surprised I actually remember.

"I kinda figured it out," I say. For some reason I don't want to tell him about the photos I have hidden in my suitcase or all I went through in order to find out the truth.

He nods his head and doesn't question me any further.

"It's kinda ironic. I ran away, not wanting to marry the guy I was supposed to marry, only to get married with a stri-... stranger." I was trying to make a joke, but instead I had just put my foot in mouth. By the way his eyes widen I'm guessing he knew what I originally was going to say. The silence that follows is uncomfortable. I shift around in my chair and Green Eyes follow my movement.

"How did you find out?" I ask after too much silence and also because I'm curious.

He runs his hand through his hair again and for the first time looks reluctant to look at me while he answers. "I, um. I remember."

"You remember that night?" I clarify.

He nods his head. I process his words. If he remembers that night then that means he hadn't had so much to drink to where he only married me because of the alcohol running through his system. I don't understand, but I don't question him. I tell myself that I'll ask him later because instead I need to ask him another question. I breathe in and out and try to make myself as comfortable as Edward looks to be.

"Did we, we didn't...did we?" Ridiculous, I can't even ask the question that's been in the front of my mind this whole time, but that I've been ignoring. I had woken up practically naked my last morning in Vegas, it was probable.

"I went back with to the hotel with you, but nothing happened," he responds slowly. The smile he smiles let's me know that he wasn't telling the whole truth though.

"Edward?" I ask, nervously.

"We didn't sleep together," he clarifies.

I nod my head trying not to show my relief. Only I would be happy to not sleep with a gorgeous man, but knowing that I hadn't slept with him, somehow made me feel better about myself.

"Why weren't you there the next day?" I question.

"Jasper called. He... um, needed my help," he says and once again doesn't look at me while he responds.

I nod my head like that makes sense, but it doesn't.

"I didn't know you were going to be gone by the time I came back," he adds, almost like he needs me to know that.

"What's in the envelope?" I ask because I haven't been able to look away from it for more then a second. My eyes keep wandering back to it.

"I told you that I wasn't sure you were going to remember our marriage, so I brought that just in case. You can look at it."

I reach over and grab the envelope. There's only one piece of paper, but yet this one paper carries more weight then a 500 paged novel. Our marriage certificate. My name printed underneath Edward's, Certified by the state of Nevada.

"You're acting very calmly towards this," he says when I stay quiet as I look down at the paper.

I shrug my shoulders, "I freaked out enough already and me freaking out even more isn't going to change anything. And honestly I'm just happy that you came to find me. You saved me a trip to Vegas," I say while I place the sheet back into the envelope and hand it over to him. He leaves it on the coffee table.

"You were going to fly out to Vegas?" he asks with a smile on his face.

"This weekend. I guess I'm still going to have to go, though."

"What for?"

"To start the process of our annulment. I haven't done too much research on it, though. Do you know..." I stop when I see that his smile has suddenly disappeared.

"Annulment?" he says to me.

"Yes," I say slowly. "We don't necessarily have to get a divorce. In our case an annulment would work," I add explaining more.

"You really don't remember that night, do you, Bella?" his eyes bare into mine. He's not going to find anything there, I know because I've tried so hard to remember.

I shake my head.

"We said some things that night, Bella. You may have forgotten and that's a shame, but I sure as hell haven't."

I stare at him, not comprehanding what his words mean.

"We're not getting an annulment, Bella," and now it's him whose speaking slowly, trying to make me understand.

I don't.

Please don't shoot me. I'm waving a white flag. I don't think I can even try to explain how much I missed you guys. I'm back and I WILL finish this story. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! If you're still with me please let me know!