Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or Spiderman.

Ch.21 Rumor

Monday couldn't come fast enough. The weekend turned out to be worse than planned. I expected a boring few days at home but what do I see; a deranged vampire, and a couple creepy horse sized wolves. This was certainly not planned on my agenda for the weekend, I was just glad that Monday was finally here. I needed to see Edward, and the Cullen's again, I missed them.

After getting dressed and fixing my hair up in a headband, I headed off towards the school.

"Bye, May, Ben," I called as I ran passed them and out the front door to my car. I parked next to the Cullen's car before quickly grabbing my school bag and heading out.

"Hey, Bella," they called in unison at the same time I called, "hey guys," and laughed lightly.

"How was your weekend?" I asked as Edward came to stand beside me.

"Fine. Rather boring without you there," he smiled as I tilted my head up to look at him. I hadn't realized he was that close to me. "How was yours?"

"About the same, nothing much happened," I shrugged through my lie.

"Okay," his tone told me something else. "Were going to class now," he told his family before catching my hand in his strong, cold one and walking away from the others.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" He startled me by speaking after a few minutes of silence.

"What?" I tried to play innocent, it didn't work.

"What you did this weekend. You might have fooled the others, but you can't fool me," he smirked.

"Oh, well, um, I didn't do much. I went for a walk in the woods, er that's about it," I stuttered.

"Did you see something in the woods?" He was good.

"No," my answer was curt almost to the point of it being rude, but there was no way I was going to tell him what I saw. I doubt he would even believe me if I were to tell him the truth.

He stopped walking and pulled on my hand so I had to stop with him, he spun me around until I was facing him. "Why don't you want to tell me?" He ran his smooth fingers along my hairline and curled his finger around a loose strand of hair before tucking it behind my ear. It was the strange feeling I got when he did that, making me tremble as he looked into my eyes. "Please tell me," he whispered, taking a step closer.

I was sure there wasn't an inch of air between our bodies; I could feel the cool chill of his body temperature as if he was pressed against me tightly. I wasn't even sure if he was, all I could focus on in that moment were his eyes.

"I was scared, and I didn't want you to be scared too," I blurted without a coherent thought in my mind.

"Why were you scared," he stroked my hair again.

I gave in to the burning pressure in my body and leaned my head against his freezing chest, letting his arms envelope around me. The warm cotton of his shirt seemed to match the temperature of his body, but it was still more than a little comfortable. I had never felt anything better than this in my entire life. His soft but cold hands continued to hold me tightly against himself and I let out a sigh before I pulled back a little but not enough to leave his arms. I still couldn't look him in the eyes as I answered.

"I don't want to talk about it, please," I whispered, becoming desperate.

There were times when I was strong and could handle difficult situations but having Edward hold me seems to make me lose all sense of myself and just give my emotions away to him. My previous strength losing itself without my permission, but I guess being in Edward's arms is better than having that element.

"Alright," he conceded with a heavy sigh. "We need to get to class," he commented after a minute.

"Okay," I reluctantly left the comfort of his embrace, and looked around. "Where is everybody?"

The halls were almost empty other than two kids at the end of one talking, Edward and I were the only others around. "The bell is just about to go off," he said as he hurriedly rushed me down the few corridors and to my classroom door. "I will see you at lunch," he kissed my cheek with the lightest of pressure before heading down the next hallway. My cheek tingled with a warm sensation. His lips were so soft and smooth. I almost purred.

I was not late for class. I spent my next few classes in a daze, taking notes but not really listening to the teacher's words being said. I was basically on autopilot in my mind, and my body was just following my regular actions.

When I was heading for lunch I was more than a little surprised when I finally noticed people staring at me oddly. I hurried to the lunchroom and took my usual seat at the oval shaped table, skipping the food line.

"Bella! I had no idea, why didn't you tell me?" I looked up at Emmett and saw that his hand was over his heart in mock hurt.

"What didn't I tell you?" What had I missed?

"That you were dating my brother, and you are pregnant with his love child," Emmett seemingly couldn't hold it in any longer as he threw his head back and burst out into loud guffaws that made the strange table vibrate and shake as he pounded his fists on it from his laughter.

Thankfully Rosalie chose that moment to walk by and hit Emmett on top of the head before we could attract anymore unwanted attention from the peanut gallery. The rest of the group showed up then and took their seats; Edward smiled as he sat down next to me. "Would you care to elaborate, Em?" I asked once everybody was seated.

"Well I overheard Jessica earlier and she was complaining about how you lied to her about having Edward as your boyfriend. Then she went on in quite a lot of," he cleared his throat and leaned in closer to me, "detail about how she heard you two doing the nasty in the janitors closet," he whisper the last part conspiratorially.

"You know what?" I looked at him evenly for a moment. "I think she might have been on to something," I nodded my head, and they all gasped but I continued. "If I even knew where the janitor's closet was," I laughed, and they soon broke out into loud laughs also. Rosalie couldn't seem to stop Emmett this time as his laughter all but shook the building; a few people left the cafeteria. Their instincts must have kicked in. Alice just giggled louder when she saw this, as did I.

"Well, I heard that you two were in a pretty strong lip-lock, that's why Edward was late to his homeroom class," Jasper let out a chuckle at the new rumor.

"You were late?" I looked up at him just in time to see a small shrug of his shoulders.

"You didn't have to be late. I could have walked to class by myself," I frowned at him.

"It was worth it, spending that extra time with you," he smiled and started twirling my hair in his long fingers again. "Besides, I didn't even get in trouble," he grinned, and I could easily tell that all he really had to do was smile at his teacher and she would have been dazzled enough to not know that he was late.

"Oh great, they are at it again," Rosalie complained.

"What?" I asked her, confused.

"Do you not see yourself?" She asked me while I just looked at her dubiously. "You guys just need to kiss or something, but I am afraid that if you do, you won't be able to stop for a very long time," she shuddered delicately.

"I agree with Rose, you two are so intense all the time, it's almost creepy. My advice is too just give into what ya'll are feelin', don't come round here no more if ya'll are gonna be like that" Jasper said, insightfully with a southern accent.

"I am not intense," I couldn't help but to argued. It seemed like a second nature to argue back when someone tells me something.

Jasper and Rosalie just rolled their eyes at me. Maybe they really are birth twins; they seem very alike in some ways. If they looked more similar than just matching blond hair, I would say that they are.

I was beyond mortified in this moment though and tried my best to get over the overwhelming feeling, but it stuck with me as I put my head in my hands and flushed a brilliant red. I waited very impatiently for the earth to suck me into a black hole. There was no way that I could even look at Edward in this pathetic moment in my life.

"I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself and do not vocalize them," hissed a furious voice to my left.

I looked over at Edward in surprise; I had never seen anyone so striking. I mean angry. The look in his eyes as he glared at everyone was one that could have killed a tree, without a saw. I didn't think that it was possible but his expression told me otherwise. Beautiful.

"Edward," I tried to say in a normal voice but it came out more a whisper. He looked down at me and his expression immediately softened and he raised an eyebrow in question towards me. "It's fine, really," I shrugged but continued. "Let them have their fun, we know it's not true, there it is not necessary to get all worked up over something as silly as this," my voice rose when the words were finally out and true.

There are a lot of more important things to be stressed about; this situation was just high school dramas gone a bit out of control from a hug. I had many other worries to think about rather than these ridiculous interactions between classmates and joking with the family.

Like a disturbed vampire, some large wolves, and the fact that I had yet to speak to my parents about my almost completed change. Yes, there certainly were more important things at this moment in time, I just wish that these little dramas were what was important, not the big things. But I knew it wasn't true, just wishful thinking on my part.

It seemed really self-centered of me to want these little things to be the center of my life. The fact that there is much more going on in my existence seemed to want to take part of me even though I was pushing it back.

It seemed most prudent to go back to New York and live with mom and dad again. I would have dad show me how to use my web and teach me how to swing from building to building like he does, my abilities are only half there and I am sure there is still much more to learn. He could teach me.

There was one problem to this though. My heart was in Forks. Could I leave my heart behind to follow what I was born to do? No. I would need Edward with me, but I didn't want him to get hurt from the dangers that surround my life. He may be a vampire but I didn't know what he could and couldn't do so there were still many risks. This would probably be too much to handle and he would leave, leave me alone, and I would go back to New York, where I belong. My heart clenched at the thought of being without Edward for any amount of time. Going home at the end of the day is hard enough as it is.

"Bella? Bella!"

I gazed around and saw everyone staring at me oddly and looking alarmed. "Yes?" I asked after a moment of awkward silence, Edward, bless him, broke it.

"You just spaced out for about ten minutes, are you okay? We have been trying to get your attention-you haven't even blinked-and you started talking," he looked at me fearfully now.

"Oh," I had nothing else to say. "Sorry," I added as an afterthought.

"It's no worry, Bella," Rosalie said as she placed her cold hand upon mine.

Edward and I walked to biology class in silence, it wasn't until we were in class a few minutes early did he start talking. The teacher ran out just as we walked in mumbling about a lost worksheet so we took our seats in back.

"Bella?" I gazed up at him in surprise at first, I hadn't heard his voice since after we had spoken at lunch, and it's been about half an hour.

"Yes?" I nodded for him to continue speaking since he looked hesitant to do so.

"I was just wondering something. It's none of my business really, I was just curious, really, you don't have to answer if you don't want to," he rambled.

"What is it Edward?" I tried hard not to laugh at his nervous expression.

"At lunch," he started with a sigh. "During your daydreaming- I think that's what it was. Anyways, you said something about moving back to New York," he took a deep breath and looked at me again, the look I remember from earlier, fear.

"Edward, I am not going anywhere," I ran my hand through my hair as I took a deep breath, trying to calm my frazzled nerves.

"You're not?" His gaze looked hopeful and I nodded my head with a small smile. Did he want me to stay? I could only hope to be as lucky to be on the receiving side of his emotions. It was a wistful dream of mine, but one that I desperately hoped would happen for me. Maybe it has.

"Edward, my heart is in Forks," I flushed slightly, hoping that he hadn't caught on to much. I turned my head away before he could realize what I said and continued on. "I always like it here. I never got to visit much-only during the holidays- and I wished that I would have more often. I even have some wonderful friends here," I looked back up at him, and was pleased to note that I couldn't feel the heat of my blush anymore.

"Right," he murmured quietly, and looked up as the teacher walked in with our worksheets.

My last two classes passed by quickly and I soon found myself driving to the Cullen's house, with Edward in my passenger seat. "You haven't said much since biology, care to share what's going on in that head of yours," I patted his knee reassuringly.

"It's nothing," he mumbled and fixed his amber eyes on out the window.

"Please tell me," I grabbed his hand from his lap, but kept one hand on the steering wheel.

"It's not important," he sighed.

"Everything you say is important," I grinned at him with a wink.

"Doubt it," he murmured quietly, but continued to hold onto my hand.

Edward was mostly quiet and kept to himself as the day progressed further, and I was starting to truly worry about him. I wasn't sure what was going on in his mind but I tried to stay optimistic in the idea that he had lost a CD or something trivial such as that.

The rest of the day passed without incident other than Edward's slightly strange behavior.

I went to the Cullen's house after school and spent some time with everyone. I talked with Esme for a while about gardening, she was thinking about decorating the outside of the house with red and white fuchsias because there was such little sun here. We laughed at some of our corny gardening jokes while the rest of family that was in the room rolled their eyes at as and continued to play with the X-box in the living room.

"New gardeners learn by trowel and error," she laughed at my crappy joke.

"A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in row," we both laughed heartily at her joke.

It was like being home with mom again.

When I got home and said a quick goodnight to Aunt May and Uncle Ben, I went to bed.

I talked to Peter and Mary Jane in the morning before heading out the door for school. Nothing much was going on so the conversation didn't last very long other than a quick list of what I did the day before.

When I passed May and Ben to go out the door, I waved quickly before heading out the door. I almost missed Edward as I walked over towards my car. "Oh, Bella?" I spun around in surprise to see Edward leaning against the passenger side of his Volvo.

"What are you doing here?" I couldn't hold back my gasp of surprise at seeing him here. I was usually mentally prepared by the time I get to the school, this was a shocker.

"I thought that I would give you a ride today," he shrugged casually and opened the passenger door for me.

There wasn't a chance that I wouldn't take to be without Edward for a moment so I hurriedly rushed to his car and buckled myself in. He was in the driver's seat and starting the car before I had a chance to finish buckling myself in. "Is there a reason for this?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Well, um, yes," he looked slightly embarrassed so I figured I would change the subject.

"Where are the others?" We were the only ones in the car and it was strange because his Volvo was always full with people, well the correct term would be vampires, but I didn't feel like mentioning that.

"Rosalie wanted to drive today, so they are with her. I thought that I would pick you up," he shrugged again. I noticed idly that he has been doing that a lot, just shrugging off his emotions.

"Edward, what's going on?"

"What do you mean?" He got the scared look in his eyes again, but he couldn't just keep shrugging everything off, it was time to face it. Whatever it is.

"You have been acting strangely," I started but he cut me off.

"No I haven't," he lied, terribly.

"Edward," my tone was one of warning.

"Bella," he sighed and ran his hand through his hair, without looking at me before he caved.

Once he parked in the school lot I noticed that there weren't that many cars here yet so he turned the car off and turned to look me in the eye. "Bella, there is a reason I was worried when you started to talk about New York yesterday," he sighed.

I quirked an eyebrow at him; waiting for him to continue with this explanation.

"When you said that your heart was in Forks, I understood. Not because we haven't visited before or for family like you have said to me. I agree with you that my heart is in Forks because you are in Forks," Edward looked at me meaningfully for a moment before dropping his eyes to his lap.

I must have sat there for what felt like an hour with my mouth opened and eyes wide, looking like a complete imbecile. My thoughts were running wild in my head and I couldn't seem to take control of a single one of them, I was too stunned to form a coherent word let alone a thought.

I was even more surprised when Edward got out of the car and started walking towards the school, his head hung low. Rejection. How could he have thought that my stupidity would be rejection? I should be the one feeling rejection, not him.

I swiftly exited the car just barely remembering to grab my purse and school bag, and rushed out into the sprinkling rain. Edward was still walking, head down, almost halfway across the parking lot because of my lack of intelligence.

I ran to him as fast as I could and still pass as a human, I turned quickly and stopped right when I was in front of him, he crashed into me with a small thud- obviously not hearing my arrival-and he caught me just in time as I was starting to fall to the ground. "Bella? Are you okay?" He sounded completely panicked now.

I stood up straight and looked directly into his sorrowful eyes as I threw my arms around his neck, bending his head down so he was slightly closer to me, and kissed him.

His lips were everything I had imagined them to be, except much, much better than my imagination. They were sweet, as if he had just been eating a bag of cotton candy instead of drinking from some deer nearby. The moved in perfect synchronization with mine, and it was heavenly.

The kiss didn't last quite as long as I had hoped but when I pulled back for a quick gulp of air; I said the words that I have been waiting for so long to say to him.

"I love you too, Edward, always," we both smiled, peaceful smiles.

Hey! A new chapter is complete! It is much longer than the others because I knew that a lot of people would be mad if I cut it off somewhere in here. But, there we go, the romance is finally underway! I think that we have been all waiting for that. ;)

I would have had this up a little earlier, but I was recapping on all the Spider-man movies, and Twilight, of course.

My beta will not be editing my mistakes anymore, so I apologize if you see some errors in here. She had to quit this for personal reasons, but I am glad that I was able to have her input in a part of this story at least! Thanks, M!

Again, you will have to check my profile in a few days to see when I will be posting again. I almost forgot to post today, totally slipped my mind!

I did remember though, phew!

Thanks!

~Heidi