A/N: Oh my gosh! I cannot even begin to explain to you all how busy I have been since we got back to school. I have been getting to work by seven every morning and staying to at least four/four-thirty. It seems like I have gotten very little accomplished during that time as well, so it's extremely frustrating.

To top that off I've been having an extreme case of writers' block. I have been debating with myself trying to figure out how to proceed with this story. Not helping the situation is my new idea for a story that has popped into my head and continues to dance around, refusing to leave. Apparently, I may have to write that story at the same time of this one. I'm going to do my best this holiday weekend to get this story through the summer months following Edward and Bella's freshman year of high school. I hope I don't rush it, and that you all will enjoy it.

Now on with this show… Again, sorry for the extremely long wait.

DISCLAIMER: not Stephenie Meyer… enough said…

BPOV

Late May

After spring break, I was able to fall back into my old routine. I even ate lunch in the cafeteria every day again. I hardly spent time in the gym outside of P.E. Coach James has been a little strange about it, but I really didn't let it bother me. In fact, I didn't let anything bother me anymore. Now that Edward was back by my side, anything that happened outside the two of us was just a small distraction. I barely registered the other people around us anymore.

Just after we got back, Lauren was a little problematic. She focused her energy on getting Edward back (not that I totally blame her), and once she found out we were together, she tried everything to annoy and irritate me. Jessica was obviously her partner-in-crime. Between the two of them, Edward and I were always being surrounded by one or both annoying classmates. I was just about to snap when Edward would always grasp my hand and send shivers up and down my spine with a wonderful kiss. This reaction usually worked to send others away and leave us alone, if only for a few moments.

Now, we were only a few weeks away from the end of school. Summer was just around the corner. The weather wasn't showing any weather that I associated with summer, but that's Forks for you. Edward and I were planning our summer break together. Edward and Alice were supposed to visit their Aunt and Uncle, Esme and Carlisle for a few weeks in July. Edward promised to call every night, but I secretly feared that when he was in Port Angeles he would meet someone prettier, smarter, willing to move further in a relationship than I was.

Edward and I had stalled on the physical part of our relationship. After that night in the hot tub, we realized that we had moved a little fast and wanted to take our time and enjoy each other with out complicating the relationship more than it already was. Granted, Edward and I getting back together had certainly made things easier and simpler for us and our friends, but taking it to a more physical level would just confuse us (mostly me) and I wasn't ready yet. Thankfully, Edward was acting like a perfect gentleman, and he was being patient with me.

Currently, I was studying alone in my bedroom for my finals on a Friday night. Edward, Emmett, and Jasper were at their last baseball game of the season. Math had gotten a little easier, mainly in part because of Edward's tutoring, but I was still struggling a little. Not having Edward available to talk with about the problems in front of me made me even more nervous. Social studies and science were getting easier as the year was coming to a close, and those finals were two that I didn't have to worry about. My music final consisted of writing a little song that incorporated the many themes we'd worked on this year. We were working in partners, so Edward was writing the music to go along with my lyrics. I would play the guitar and he would play the piano and sing. We made a great team in that class, so I wasn't worried. Especially since we finished writing our song two weeks ago. Coach James had already given us our final grades, and by some great miracle, I'd managed to get a B. Spanish had turned out to be a joke, and even though I couldn't barely say "How are you?" in Spanish, I managed to keep straight A's all year long through the final. That just left math, and I was barely holding on to a C in that class.

I stared at the numbers and letters on the page when I heard a soft knock on my bedroom door. "Yes?"

My door opened and Edward stuck his head into my room. "Hey you. Renee said you were working on math. Need some help?" He gave me my favorite crooked grin and came into the room, shutting the down quietly behind him. I noticed that his shirt was slightly damp and clinging to his toned chest and abs.

He was dazzling me without even trying. It just wasn't fair. Luckily, I was able to nod in response to his question until he bent down and placed a quick chaste kiss on my lips. He stood behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders, allowing his fingertips to graze the exposed skin on my collarbone.

I could barely concentrate on the math textbook before Edward arrived. Now that he was standing so close to me, I was barely able to remember to breathe. I could tell Edward was trying to explain one of the problems, but my brain would only concentrate on his fingertips that were gently massaging my shoulders. To make matters worse, images from that night in the hot tub would flash in my head sporadically. Even worse was sudden rise in temperature throughout my body including between my legs.

Edward must have asked me a question because he was suddenly shaking me to get my attention. "Huh? I'm sorry. My mind decided to take a mini-vacation. What?"

"Bella, how long have you been working on this math?" Edward moved so he was beside me.

"Um… only a few hours… I just… this test… it's worth half our grade, and I'm hopeless… I still don't get anything. What am I going to do Edward?" I was almost ready to cry when he pulled me up into his arms.

"Bella. You've been up here working for too long. It's no wonder your brain wants to wander. You need to do something beside math. How about we talk for a bit and you can relax a little. You have a couple days before the test. We'll work on the math tomorrow and Sunday." Edward released me slightly and pulled me towards my bed.

I stopped. Edward had been so great about not pushing me to do anything I wasn't comfortable with. I guess I should have known it was too good to last.

"Bella, relax. I just want to talk. I promise. I'll keep my hands to myself if you want."

He smiled at me and I saw in his eyes that he spoke the truth. I released a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding, and went and sat beside him on my bed. He gently placed one arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to his chest. We were breathing in sync, sitting in comfortable silence.

"So.." I said, breaking the silence. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I do have a question. Where did you brain go earlier?"

My cheeks betrayed me and flushed almost instantly.

"Okay… now you have to tell me." He had a smirk on his face as he looked down at me.

I tried to hide behind my hair, but Edward quickly pulled my hair behind my ears so he could get a better look at me. "Well…" I felt like I had to swallow my tongue. "I was thinking…" How am I supposed to tell him this? "about… you… and me…"

I looked up at him to gage his reaction. "Well, are you going to tell me what we were doing? Judging by your amazingly cute blush, I have my theories." That smirk was back on his face.

"Well, my mind wandered back to that night on spring break?" I said in a rush.

"Which night?" His mouth was just millimeters from my ear as he breathed the question into my ear.

"The night in the hot tub." I couldn't bring myself to look at him at this point. I stared down at my comforter, just wishing that I could melt into the blankets.

Edward reached down and grabbed onto my hands with one of his, and pulled my chin up to look at me with his other.

"Love, that was a wonderful night. But I can tell you're are uncomfortable. Why?" His eyes were smoldering as he looked at me, and the green in his eyes seemed to be a slight shade darker.

"Well… that's the only time… I mean, we… all we do is hold hands, hug, and kiss. I know after what happened that night you have to be, well, frustrated…"

"Bella… have I made any comments that would suggest that?" He was starting to look concerned now.

"Well… no… but I'm sure you probably wish we'd repeat that night again… and probably soon."

"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think about that night and wish for a repeat sometime. But I am willing to wait for as long as it takes. You're too important to me, and I would never force you to do anything you're not wanting to do."

This guy beside me really was too good to be true. How did I get this lucky? "I don't know why you bother with me. I'm nothing special, and I'm incredibly slow when it comes to these relationship things."

"Bella, I bother with you, as you put it, because I care about you more than I've ever cared about anyone else. When I'm with you, I feel like I can do anything. You are more than just my girlfriend. You are my best friend, and when I can't talk to anyone else, I can talk to you. I don't know how I would survive without you. If we never do anything else besides hold hands, talk, hug, or chastely kiss from here until forever, I'll be content because it means that I have you."

With that he placed a chaste kiss on my lips and pulled me into a tight embrace. He held me close to him so my ear was pressed to his chest above his heart. He lightly stroked my hair and started humming a soft, loving melody that I had never heard before. I sighed and closed my eyes as I held Edward to me. I really was lucky.

I must have drifted off to sleep because when I opened my eyes the sun was streaming through my open window. I sat up realizing that I was still dressed in my clothes from yesterday. A note was placed on the pillow beside where my head had been lying.

"Bella,

Never doubt that you are special to me.

My heart beats for you alone.

When we're apart, it slows and almost stops.

Sweet dreams to the sweetest girl I know.

Edward"

I smiled in spite of my worries about math finals and relationship expectations. If Edward was willing to wait, I could honestly be the luckiest girl on the planet.

A/N: So, I hope that was worth the wait. Let me know your thoughts in a review. Thanks for sticking with me.