A/N: hi y'all, here's another one. happy reading! keep up the amazing reviews, I love each and every one of them :)

Chapter 21

"Alright, let's go over this one more time. The introduction in Beowulf provides us…"

"The history behind the events and the main characters."

"And the poem begins with…"

"A funeral, which sets the tone for future events in the poem."

"An elegy is…"

"A literary form that celebrates death."

"See, you're better at this than you're giving yourself credit for."

"Ugh, stop praising me and start asking the really difficult questions," Bella grumbled.

I held back a smile. She was so stressed for this exam and yet here she was, answering correctly to everything I'd asked her in the past two hours or so. We were sitting across from one another in the living-room, each occupying one sofa. There were books and notes scattered all across the room. I had Bella's laptop, where she had summarized her notes for her exam. We'd spent the afternoon studying, but when I saw she was getting frustrated, I suggested helping her. I did say I would tutor her when the decision to come here had been made, so I felt it was my duty to help her now. But now it was nearing midnight, and I worried that perhaps it was best if she'd just leave the rest for tomorrow, but she insisted to stay up. She just brought another cup of coffee from the kitchen as if to prove her point. I idly wondered how long it would take before she crashed.

I glanced at her notes again. "Two central elements of the poem are…"

"Religion and fantasy."

"When I say 'But death is not easily/ escaped from by anyone/ all of us with souls, earth-dwellers/ and children of men, must make our way/ to a destination already ordained', I mean…"

"That fate is inevitable, but even though it's predetermined, one must still take action and aspire for fame and glory before death."

"I wonder what he means there by 'all of us with souls'," I mused. "Does that mean the fate of the likes of me is not predetermined?"

"Of course it is," she replied, not missing a beat. "You were destined to meet me, which means your fate is predetermined… which means you do have a soul," she concluded, looking awfully proud of herself. Then she shook her head thoughtfully. "You're more like this story than you realize."

I laughed softly. "How is that?"

"You think you're a monster, the bad guy, but like you told me once, you don't see yourself very clearly. Even if you are the monster, you're not all-evil, because there is no such thing. Ultimate evil or ultimate good just don't exist."

"Does that make me Grendel or Beowulf?" I asked, amused by her association.

"That's just it. It doesn't matter. Beowulf is not all-good either. He's proud, he chases fame, he always thinks he's going to die, and his battle strategy is flawed. It doesn't matter which one you are, because both of them embody good and evil at the same time." She looked contemplative for a moment. "Hmm. Maybe I should use you as an example in my essay."

"Somehow I don't think your lecturers will appreciate you're writing about your vampire husband," I laughed. She smirked at the idea, and then yawned. "Bed time for the human?" I asked hopefully.

"No, not yet. I have too much to do."

"Really, Bella, you've been studying ever since you got home this afternoon. You need to get some rest."

"I will. The moment this exam is behind me." She nodded towards the laptop in my lap. "Come on. Back to work."

xoxox

The morning I had my last exam, Bella meant to catch up on her sleep. She had her last exam the day before, and she had spent days studying for it with hardly any sleep at all. And yet in spite of her promises to spend the entire day in bed, she walked me to the door when I left that morning. We stood on the doorway kissing for about ten minutes before I finally pulled away from her reluctantly. "Let's save some of this for later, shall we?" I murmured against her lips before I turned to go.

"Edward, wait," she pleaded, laying her hands against my chest to stop me. There was strange urgency in her stare. Her cheeks flushed slightly. "There's something I need to tell you."

I watched her curiously. Her face gave nothing away, except for the blush. "I'm listening."

"Well, you know how I felt about this whole college thing at first, and I just wanted to say I was wrong. I really like it here. I'm glad you didn't let me skip it."

I smiled, holding back the 'I told you so' that was on the tip of my tongue. "I'm glad you feel that way, Love."

"And also… if you want to stay another year… I won't have a problem with that."

I stared at her dumbfounded for a moment. Did she really just say what I thought she did? "You… really mean that? You will stay human for another year?"

"All other conditions still stand, of course," she said, and the color in her cheeks deepened.

"Of course," I laughed, caressing her cheek, struggling to contain my excitement. "I know I'm taking a risk merely by asking this, but what brought this on?"

"I'm not really sure, actually," she admitted, smiling sheepishly. "I didn't even plan to tell you anything until Christmas, but I just…" her voice trailed off as a shadow suddenly crossed her face. She looked at me carefully. "Are you very upset with me?"

Was she joking? She was willing to give me more time; I was anything but upset with this turn of events. "Why in the world would I be upset?" I asked, pressing a kiss to her temple. I wondered if Alice knew. I'd only spoken to her the night before and she hadn't said anything. It wasn't like Alice to keep that sort of thing to herself, to say the very least.

Bella smiled – in relief, it seemed. "I was also thinking that maybe we could spend the summer on the island again." Her voice – although timid – was thick with implications. Her eyes held my gaze as she ran a hand down my chest.

"You're going to be held responsible if I fail today's exam," I chided, putting my hand on hers to stop her.

"I think I'm willing to take the chance," she smiled sweetly, slowly wrapping her arms around my neck. "Will you be very distracted?" she murmured, her lips inches from mine.

"Extremely," I whispered, pressing my forehead to hers.

"Good luck," she said, placing a small kiss against my lips.

"Go back to sleep, and I'll see you in a little while," I promised.

On my way to campus, I tried to make sense of what she had just told me. She loved it here. She wanted to stay another year, she was willing to remain human. It was inconceivable. After her fierce objection to even consider college, she wanted to stay here. As the term came to a close I was beginning to fear for the future. I wasn't ready to change her, not yet. I was trying to think of ways to say this to her without breaking any possible promise I had ever made to her, but I just couldn't find the way. And now, she just solved the problem for me. She would remain human.

Just as Bella had predicted, just as I feared, the three and a half hours of the exam stretched as our conversation replayed itself in my mind. I finished most of the exam in less than half an hour, and the rest of the time, as I pretended to be writing, I tried very hard to push away the mental images that now whirled inhabited through my mind. I saw the golden beaches of Isle Esme, and the way the water sparkled while coming in direct contact with the sunlight. I pretended to hear nothing but the soft murmur of the waves. I remembered the wildlife, and venom pooled in my mouth at the thought of the endless hunting possibilities. I saw Bella in one of the outrageous swimsuits my sister had picked for her, lying next to me on the sand with those red tints in her hair. This last image was more distracting than the others – it took a lot of willpower to send it away.

I struggled to focus my thoughts on more reasonable things, like the upcoming Christmas, only days away. We were leaving for Forks in a few days. I could hardly believe the time had finally come. There was this childish anticipation babbling within me. I missed each and every one of them, even Rose and her vanity, Emmett and his unrelenting teasing. We hadn't truly celebrated Christmas for decades, and I was looking forward to it now.

It was going to be my first Christmas with Bella, and I was determined to get her something, no matter how badly she resented it. Until now I'd been very good as far as gifts were concerned, so I decided she was inclined to return the favor. It was only the question of what I should get her. A jewel, I decided. Finding a local jeweler or visiting the Tiffany's website were probably the easiest thing to do, but I decided against those. Hand-me-downs had more meaning in my eyes. And the fact Bella had approved of them assured me that she wouldn't throw a fit over receiving one of them. Or at least I hoped so.

Carlisle was keeping my mother's jewelries for me, and although those were only few, I spent the next hour or so wondering which of them would be most suitable for Bella. I knew she wouldn't appreciate a diamond necklace – there was a great chance she wouldn't speak to me if I even attempted to get her one of those. I couldn't give her a bracelet, as she was still wearing the one Jacob had given her, and I didn't want her to feel compelled to choose between the two. I could give her one of my mother's rings. She didn't wear her engagement ring here; she said she was afraid to lose it or whatnot. I thought that the ring I had in mind – a plain silver one with a single moonstone on it – would look very nice on her. Moonstones were subtler than diamonds or emeralds. There was no reason for her to reject that.

Finally, to my great relief, it was a reasonable time to leave the room. I had an unwritten rule to never be the first one to leave the room during an exam. I waited until 5 other people had handed in their exams before I got up and slowly made my way out. The hallway was deserted except for a few students who waited for their friends to finish.

My cell-phone vibrated in my pocket the moment I turned it back on. I reached for it, and managed to see it was a new text message that had been received, but just then I heard my name being called. I turned to see Lara rushing towards me. I sighed inwardly. Was she ever going to give up? I honestly hoped I wouldn't have to bump into her when we were back from the break.

"Lara," I said when she caught up with me.

He's just too beautiful. "I can't believe this exam is finally over! How did you do?"

"Alright, I think," I replied, keeping my smile polite. I knew what she was after, so I asked, "How did you do?"

"Oh, I totally messed up that second essay. But other than that, I think it went okay. It was easier than I expected, don't you think?"

"Yes, quite easy," I agreed. Well, it was easy, especially if you'd written that same exam about two decades ago.

He has a really sexy voice, I've never noticed before. "So, erm, do you have plans for the break?"

"Yes, actually. Bella and I are leaving in a few days. We're going to spend Christmas with our family."

"Oh. That's… exciting." Ugh, Bella. I started to forget all about her. "I didn't have a chance to see Bella after our exam yesterday. Do you know how she did in that one?"

"I think she did well," I said, absentmindedly glancing at my watch.

Unfortunately, she noticed. Impatient, are we? I bet he's in a hurry to go back home to his little wife. But wow. That's, like, the longest conversation I've had with him all term. "Well, uhh… Merry Christmas. Have fun on the break."

"You too. Perhaps I'll see you next term."

Oh, you'll see me. If it's up to me, you sure will. "Tell Bella I said hi." Gah. If only…

"I will," I said, smiling brightly, and turned to go before she managed to think of another thing to say.

As I walked down the hall, I turned my attention back to my cell-phone. I smiled to myself, thinking the text would be from Bella. She used to send me random texts from time to time, when she was bored in the middle of class, and I used to pretend to be horrified that she did. My smile got an inch wider when I thought back of my conversation with Lara. I couldn't wait to tell Bella all about it. The thought made me chuckle under my breath. She was rather adorable when she was pulling off her 'of course I'm not jealous' act, or trying to pull it off, considering how bad she was in pretending. I was looking forward to that afternoon.

But the message wasn't from Bella. Something's wrong with Bella. Can't see. Go home, NOW!

I was no longer smiling. The message was at least two hours old. I hastened my steps down the hall and stormed out of the building. The moment I was out of human sight, I ran.