A/N: Thanks for the excellent reviews on the recent chapter. I'm slowly getting away from the drama and back into the fluffy, funny romance stuff, so please enjoy.

** I do not own the characters etc… all belong to SM. Thanks – The Management**

Edward POV

It was Friday. Finally. Esme had called me and asked me to drive up to Forks to pick her and Bella up. I would be staying over at the house tonight, and then we would drive back to Seattle early tomorrow morning. I was beyond excited. I hadn't seen Bella in five long, tortuous days. This was the longest I had been apart from her since we met. That wasn't going to happen again, I told myself. I hated every single moment of our separation.

When I finally pulled into the driveway just before dinner time, there was a big 'for sale' sign on the front lawn. The house looked different since I was here last and I noticed immediately that the boat and truck were gone. There was no movement in the house, so I honked my horn, impolite I know, but then Bella ran out of the house excitedly. I picked her up in my arms and twirled her around gently as I kissed her lips sweetly.

We had spent over an hour every night this past week on the phone, just talking. It was like the days before we were dating and would have casual conversations about meaningless shit. When I looked into her eyes, there was still a lot of sorrow there, but there was a glint of happiness when I kissed her, and it made me feel like everything was going to be alright.

"So, you're selling the old girl?" I said as I pointed to the sign on her lawn.

"Yeah. I thought of renting it out, but then I realized that I would never live here again, so why not let someone else create their own memories here," she said with a tiny smile. I just wrapped my arms around her waist and walked into the house with her. "The real estate agent is going to handle all the negotiations with your mom, but I get all the money."

She looked nervous when she mentioned the money. I had a feeling she didn't want to spend any of it, like it was tainted or something. I decided not to discuss it any further with her unless she brought it up first.

"Edward, good to see you," said my Mom as she walked into the room looking at ease. She informed me that she had ordered some pizza because all of the kitchen stuff was hauled off to charity the day before.

"Pizza, sure… sounds good," I said as I sat Bella on my lap and began playing with her hair soothingly. "The gang is throwing you a little welcome home party tomorrow night," I added casually. She immediately tensed up. "Don't worry… just the six of us. We'll hang at your place, if you want."

"That sounds good. I could use a night with my friends," she said eventually. "Although I'd prefer to be alone with just you Cullen," she whispered into my ear. I practically jumped out of my skin as she then followed up her remark by running her fingers gently down my chest. Thank god my mom had left the room.

"Bella Swan, what has gotten into you?" I asked, intrigued by her proposition.

"It's been a while since I held you close to me. I never even got to thank you properly for your declaration of love," she said as she leaned her head into my neck and started nibbling my ear. I pushed her back from me gently, and she went back in, this time biting my earlobe very hard.

"Bella, relax," I said as she finally relented. "Trust me, I want you. But my mom is in the next room." I said, irritated with myself for having to turn her down.

"I'm not mad," she started saying. "I've just learned not to take things for granted, and I don't want to be apart from you."

"I love you,"

"I love you too Edward," she said happily. Suddenly the pizza delivery guy arrived and I sadly had to lift Bella from my lap. I had a raging hard on and wouldn't move so I scooted the chair further until I was covered by the table and just waited as my mom served up dinner and we ate in peace. After dinner, we walked through the house quietly and I noticed all the things that had changed. In the living room, there was a large selection of furniture marked "charity" and just as many marked "storage". Beside the storage pile was about a dozen boxes, which I assumed held mementos like pictures, photo albums etc… Bella looked wistfully at the piles as we walked by.

"That stuff goes into storage in the morning, until I decide what I want to do with it. I can't keep it at the dorm," she said as she led me up the stairs to her bedroom. It was practically a shell of what her room was like only a week ago. Nothing on the walls, a couple of boxes and her bed was all that was left. I sat down on the bed and patted it, signaling her to join me. She lay down and I followed suit, snuggling up behind her and wrapping my arms around her as my head found her shoulder.

"Why don't you get an apartment and then you have somewhere to put it all?" I suggested. There was no response.

"I don't want to live alone," she said sadly.

"I'm sure Rose and Alice would love to live with you. Heck, with all the money you have now, you could probably buy a little house or something. You could make them pay you rent," I chuckled, imaging Rosalie writing Bella a check every month. That would be funny.

"You wouldn't live with me?" she asked dejectedly. I hadn't even thought about that. Emmett and Jasper would be pissed if I left them high and dry halfway through the semester, but the thought of waking up next to Bella every morning was very tempting.

"I might," I said slightly unsure. "Let's get through the holidays and then we can discuss it again?" She nodded her head gently and I kissed her neck. How I had missed that neck. "Are you coming back for Christmas, with me?" I asked hopeful.

"Esme won't take no for an answer." God bless my mother.

"It'll be fun. Esme makes a big deal out of Christmas. Knowing her generosity she'll probably buy you a pony or something," I joked as I heard her chuckle gently.

"If I do get a pony, I'm calling it something stupid like 'My Little Pony' or 'Jasper'" she laughed as she rolled over to face me.

"I think Jasper might kick your ass, Bella," I said confidently. He most definitely would kick her ass, or at least torment her verbally for a while. "On a positive note though, Alice mentioned this week that she is going home with Jasper for Christmas. Apparently her parents are going on a cruise with some of their friends, so they are ditching her."

"Maybe the six of us can do something in Chicago for New Years," she said with a hint of excitement in her voice. She was almost starting to sound like the old Bella again.

"Yeah, we can talk to them about it tomorrow when we get home. Do you want to go back to your place or mine?"

"Would you be upset if I said mine, so that I could spend a few hours with Alice and Rosalie? They have been so supportive and I hardly said anything to them when they were here last weekend. Then we can head to your place to party." I just nodded my head, understanding her need to catch up with her friends. Plus, it would give me a couple of hours to work on the music theory report I had due on Monday morning.

"You do realize that Alice will probably just talk your head off and force you into sexy clothes that make you completely uncomfortable right?"

"I'm counting on that actually, Cullen," said Bella as she moved a few stray strands of hair from my eyes and kissed me gently on the lips. She buried her head into my chest and before I knew it, she was fast asleep.

Bella POV

I woke up actually feeling a bit refreshed, until I looked around the room and remembered where I was. Still in Charlie's house, but I wasn't alone, Edward was with me and that made everything a little more bearable. I could hear Esme downstairs, probably still packing some stuff away or cleaning out the fridge. That woman always had to be doing something. She had been such an overwhelming help during these past few days. She had contacted the real estate agent, helped transfer some of Charlie's funds into an account in my name, sold the boat and the truck, called all the charities to pick up the furniture… she did it all. I didn't think I would ever be able to thank her properly for being my guardian angel these past few days.

I kissed Edward lightly on the lips and rubbed his arms, trying to get him awake. "Come on Cullen, your mom probably has the car packed already." He just shook his head.

"I've still got the keys. At best, she has everything on the porch for me to pack into the trunk," he joked as stretched and fell back onto the pillow. "Why don't you go shower and get dressed and I will get cleaned up when you are done."

"Why don't we save time and shower together?" I asked with a mischievous grin across my face. I really wasn't trying to have sex with him in the shower, but it would be quicker and a lot more fun this way.

"Bella Swan, are you trying to get me naked?" he said sarcastically, even though he practically leapt from my bed.

"Always," I said as I followed him to the bathroom. Esme would probably just figure one of us was showering. "Wait a second," I said nervously before heading downstairs quickly. I told Esme that Edward was still asleep and I was going to hop in the shower, and that I would wake him when I was done. She quickly agreed and said she would take the Volvo to go get some breakfast for all of us. I ran upstairs and got her the keys and threw them to her at the bottom of the stairs. I loved this woman. By the time the screen door had shut, Edward was already running the water for the shower.

"Come on in slowpoke," he said as he hopped into the hot shower and motioned for me to join him with his index finger. It had been so long since we had been alone together, undressed, I actually felt a bit nervous. He knew where all my little scars and scrapes were, he had kissed them all. I knew where he had freckles and where his birthmark was, but today just felt different. I slowly took my clothes off, and got into the shower, with his back to me. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed his back gently, before he turned around to face me. He leaned forward and gave me a tender kiss on my shoulder, then my collarbone and finally my ear lobe.

"It's just a shower Cullen, no sex. Water conservation, remember?" I said as I tried with all my might not to get too excited by his touch. It wasn't really working.

"All right then, let me wash your hair," he said softly as he turned me around and reached for the shampoo bottle.

"That's body wash," I practically yelled at him. I did not want that in my hair.

"Oh, yeah right. Then hand me a washcloth, I'll start with this," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed. I handed him the cloth and he immediately started washing my back and shoulders. He was certainly taking his sweet time, not that I minded, but we had plans tonight and I didn't want to look like a prune. What the hell would Alice say then? Once he seemed to be done with the back, he grabbed my arm and gently turned me around to wash the front. I don't think his eyes once left my breasts.

"Edward," I said as poked him gently in the ribs. "Pay attention."

"Oh something's at attention," he laughed as he kissed my lips gently. I nudged him in the ribs again, this time a little too hard. "Oww… okay, I heard ya Swan. More cleaning, less salivating." I was trying to stay focused, I really was. He washed my hair and rinsed it quiet thoroughly. When it was my turn to wash him, he was almost impatient. I stood on my tip toes to wash his hair, and he had to hold me tightly to make sure I didn't slip. When I was finally finished, he looked at me with a sad face.

"That's it?" he said as I reached down and went to turn the water off. "I don't think so." He pushed me against the far wall of the shower, placing both hands on either side of my head, and leaned down to kiss me. My mouth instinctively opened and welcomed his. It had been way too long. The gentle tender kisses had been great, but the return of the more passionate Edward was a change for the better.

His tongue licked my bottom lip gently before pushing my mouth open again. He drove his tongue deep inside me, encircling my tongue with his. My hands reached behind him to pull him closer to me, and I started to run my nails down his back with enough force to leave marks. He bent his head into my neck and began licking and kissing furiously. I started to pant softly as he grabbed my leg and hitched it up onto his hip. He was driving himself onto me and I loved every single second of it. Until we heard his car pull into the driveway.

"Cock blocked by my mom. Lovely," he said dejectedly as he pulled back from me slowly.

"Don't worry babe. We'll be back in Seattle soon. Before you know it we will have had a ton of alone time," I said as I licked his neck and hopped out of the shower. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around myself and handed him one.

"But I've never had shower sex," he said with a playful frown.

"Seriously Cullen, we have the rest of our lives for this stuff," I said, almost immediately mortified that I had implied I would be with him for the rest of my life. Luckily, he said nothing. He smiled and kissed my forehead before he ran quickly out of the shower to the bedroom to try to avoid being caught by his mom.

Two hours later, we were on the road back to Seattle. Esme was talking animatedly in the backseat about Christmas break while Edward drove and I held his hand tightly. "You'll love Chicago at Christmas, Bella. There is so much to see and do. We will definitely have to go shopping too." I groaned internally.

"Maybe you can take Rosalie and Alice with you when you go shopping," suggested Edward. Well, that might make the trip a little bit more pleasurable, but not by much. Esme thought this was a wonderful idea, and got all sorts of elaborate ideas involving having the six of us over on Christmas Eve to celebrate. "I'll check with the guys before you plan anything major mom. Their parents might have something planned too."

We immediately took Esme to Sea-Tac Airport to catch her flight. She had been running a bit behind schedule, but thanks to Edwards's incessant speeding, she now had plenty of time to wait for her flight back to O'Hare. She gave us each huge hugs and way too many kisses, before walking away mumbling something about Douglas Firs in her living room. I shrugged my shoulders and hopped back into the car with Edward. We were back at the dorms just before 3 that afternoon and it seemed like it had been a lot longer than 2 weeks since I had been here.

"Do you want me to come in with you?" he asked as he pulled in front of my building.

"If you do, I'll never see Alice or Rosalie cause you'll probably drag me back into the shower again," I laughed happily.

"So? Is there a problem with that?" he asked as he reached up to my face and slid some fallen tendrils of hair behind my ears.

"No, but there's plenty of time later. I'll head in and spend a few hours with the girls, you go do your report and we'll be over at around 7 for this party you guys have planned." I said stepped out of the car and grabbed my bags from the backseat.

"Just so you are aware Swan, I had no hand in planning this shindig. If I had planned it, it would involve you and me, naked, and nothing else," he said sexily as he winked at me. I closed the car door and went into the building, now officially sexually frustrated. He always knew how to get to me. I climbed the stairs to our floor, noticing how absolutely nothing had changed. A few of the flyers on the bulletin board were gone and new ones took their place, advertising parties, tutoring and the like. Nothing interesting.

I found the door to our suite unlocked, so I knew someone was home. "Hello," I called out as I put my luggage on the floor. Suddenly I heard Alice's door fly open and she ran into my arms, bursting with enthusiasm. "Nice to see you too Alice."

"Bella, it is so good to have you back. This place has been lonely and boring without you," she said as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder and led me towards the couch.

"What am I, chopped liver?" said Rosalie as she stepped from her room with Emmett close behind. He gave me a quick wave and Rosalie a quick kiss before leaving us alone. "He'll be around later."

"Did I miss anything exciting?" I asked as I played with my hair nervously. I wanted to talk about any topic other than Charlie, and thankfully, they were both willing to discuss anything. We talked about Alice's trip home with Jasper; her major project due in her history of fashion class and the new Manolo Blahniks she bought on sale. Alice did most of the talking, with Rosalie shooting me sympathetic glances every now and again.

"It's good to have you back," said Rosalie after 45 straight minutes of Alice's chatter. "See what I have had to live through without you here. I was ready to move in with Emmett just to get away from her." That reminded me of the conversation I had with Edward last night.

"Speaking of moving… would you girls like to move into an apartment or house together next fall?" I asked with a little bit of trepidation. They probably wouldn't. They probably had already discussed plans with their boyfriends for next fall, especially since next September was so far away.

"Why wait?" asked Alice. "I only paid for the dorm till the end of the first semester. I'm sure we could easily get our money back for second semester if you paid for it." I nodded my head at her, because I too had not yet paid for second semester dorm fees.

"I thought of buying a little place, and then you guys could pay me rent. I now have all this damned money from Charlie, might as well use some of it to make me happy right?" I asked as I raised my eye brows expectantly.

"You don't want to live with Edward?" asked Rosalie curiously.

"We're not ready for that yet. Sure, he would probably be over every single day, but so would Jasper and Emmett." Rosalie nodded her head in agreement. She was in. So was Alice. It was decided we would start looking for a new place next weekend, and I was actually looking forward to something in the future.

"Oh and by the way, Esme is hoping to see you guys on Christmas Eve. Edward mentioned you might be going with Jasper to Chicago for Christmas, so Esme is planning a dinner party or Christmas Eve Massacre, something like that. You guys need to come." I pleaded sweetly.

"Like I would miss out on Esme's cooking. That woman rocks," said Rosalie as Alice bounced excitedly in her seat. I guess they were on board for that too. Alice stood and grabbed both of our hands, dragging us into her room like unwilling protestors.

"We need to start getting ready for this party tonight," she beamed impatiently. Great, two hours of Alice dressing me. Thank god I would see Edward soon.