Chapter Twenty-Four

AUGUST

"He did a wonderful job on these shelves, didn't he?" Esme said, her voice warm and her face soft as she and Bella sorted Bella's books and placed them onto the shelves she and Edward (but mostly Edward) had put up for her.

They were a rich, deep brown, the wood something Edward had insisted on buying himself and while she'd protested at first, she'd seen how much he'd wanted to do it for her, and relented.

The shelves lined what used to be her father's bedroom top-to-bottom, giving her the library she'd always wanted.

"He did," Bella replied with a wide smile, one she regularly wore nowadays. "He also put up the one in the living room, either side of the mantle."

He'd made good on his promise to help her with the house, making up for the weeks he'd not been in contact. He had spent weeks with his brothers, fixing things Bella didn't even know needed fixing. They'd replaced the old, never-used fireplace for a gas one that looked like a wood fire and probably had a price tag that would make her wince but when her father had seen it, he'd nodded at Edward in approval and Bella had been so pleased that she hadn't bothered arguing about the price with him.

And when she'd gotten home the week before after having breakfast at the diner with her father, she'd taken one look at the three male vampires doing who-knows-what to the bathroom that had not looked the way it had when she'd left that morning and had sucked in a breath before looking at Edward and declaring, "I'm going to watch a movie in Port Angeles, maybe two."

"It'll be done by the time you get back but you'll have to shower at the family house tonight," Edward said, his face apologetic and more than a little bashful in a way that made some of the frustration inside of her dissipate.

"No more after this, Edward," she told him and he must have understood the authority in her tone because he nodded, moving toward her to drop a soft kiss to her mouth.

"No more after this," he'd promised.

Later that day, when she was freshly showered and dressed in a loose, floral dress that swept down to her bare feet, she stood in Edward's bedroom.

He sat behind her, reclined on the black leather sofa watching her warmly over his laptop as she stroked her fingers over the spines of his CD's and books, biting her lip when she reached his copies of Wuthering Heights and Persuasion. Books she knew he owned purely because he knew how much they meant to her.

"I love you, Edward," she'd whispered reverently without turning to look at him. He'd been behind her a second later, sweeping her hair off her shoulder and dropping a soft kiss to the spot where her shoulder met her neck.

"I love you, too," he'd whispered back.

Esme pulled her out of her memories when she spoke. "It doesn't look like your books will be able to full even two thirds of these shelves, let alone the ones in your living room."

"I know," Bella said with a shy smile, one that immediately gave away her plan.

"Oh, Bella, when?" Esme asked, her eyes bright with happiness. She, Alice and Carlisle had been their most vocal supporters.

"I'm going to ask him tonight," she said, smiling. He was in Port Angeles for the day, having taken a rare day off work to give free health checks at their local library with some staff from Forks and Port Angeles Hospitals. "This summer has been the best time I've ever had and when school goes back, I don't want to limit the time we could be spending together."

Esme grinned at her before wrapping her in a distinctly motherly embrace. When they pulled apart, they were both smiling.

"I'm so glad he found you, Bella. He's never been this happy before," the vampire said, her voice warm with emotion.

"Neither have I."

"Bella?" Edward called as he made his way through the front door. He could hear that she was up in the now-library but he liked the normalcy of calling out to her when he walked into her house.

"Up here!" she called back and he grinned as he made his way up her stairs, only a tiny bit faster than human.

"Hey," he breathed as his eyes locked on hers, taking in her flushed cheeks and her messy hair with not a small amount of adoration. Beautiful, he thought, as he did every day.

"Hi," she replied, reaching for him. Their skin touched as her hand met his and he smiled as the peace swept through him, the calm making its way through every cell of his being.

He grinned down at her before touching his mouth to hers. Usually, when they'd been apart for more than a few hours the kisses weren't so chaste but he wanted to talk to her. He pulled away and opened his mouth to do so when another thought swept him away.

"Are these all of your books?" he asked, his eyes taking in all of the space still unoccupied. She'd told him she'd need all of the space and he knew Esme had come over to help her today, so he'd expected all of the shelves to be filled.

"Yep," she told him with a wide smile. He frowned.

"They don't even fill half of the room," he pointed out, the free space bothering him. He'd wanted her to have a room filled with books and comfortable chairs. He wondered if she'd accept a ridiculously expensive gift card for Amazon.

"I know, it's perfect," she replied and he moved his gaze back to hers, taking in her happy expression.

"For what?" he asked, confused. Not for the first time did he wish he could read her mind.

"For your books!" she announced, "Esme and I worked it out and almost everything will fit in here but your CD's can go in the living room."

Oh, he thought.

And a tiny fraction of a second later, OH.

"You want me to move in with you," he stated, his face brightening, hope flooding through his veins.

"I want you to move in with me," she confirmed, still smiling. "The closet space isn't great but I'm sure if I let Alice at it, she'd make enough room-"

She was cut off as he lifted her in his arms, her legs automatically wrapping themselves around his waist and she breathed a happy sigh as he pressed her back gently into the empty shelves.

"You want me to live with you?" he asked, needing to hear it once more.

"I want you with me, all of the time," she told him.

He grinned then, leaning down to capture her mouth with his own.

It wouldn't be until later that he'd gather enough coherence back to tell her what he'd wanted to when he'd first walked into her house.

"Bella?" he asked, taking her attention away from the dress she was buttoning back up.

"Yeah?" she replied, her voice soft and her eyes heated as she took in his state of undress. It was a look that nearly made him lose his train of thought once more.

"I quit my job today."