Big, big love to Erin, Brie and Ali who deal with my crazy and love me even when I'm emo and yelling, "LET ME FEEL MY FEELINGS!" at them. You girls rock, so very very hard.

Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight; I own the satisfaction of having completed my second round of the Twi25. This is my little shout out to Indy, which as Erin rightly pointed out, doesn't get any love in this fandom. Spot the Whedon reference, win a prize.

The Twilight Twenty-Five

thetwilight25[dot]livejournal[dot]com

Prompt: 15 - Return

Pen name: CrumblingFool

Pairing: Bella/Edward

Rating: M

Photos for prompts 1, 7, 13, 19, & 25 can be found here:

community[dot]livejournal[dot]com/thetwilight25/16325[dot]html

My heart was thudding in my ears, beating heavily and conspicuously. It drowned out the noises surrounding me – people chatting and laughing, cars moving in and out of traffic. I didn't hear any of it, only the double-timing thump of my heart. The wind blew my hair into my face, brown strands invading my view, and with an impatient hand I swiped them away. I didn't want anything to obstruct my view. Not today. Not now. Not when I was on the verge of making what could be a life altering move. Nothing would be the same after this. It was the moment. You know that moment in the movies when a catchy but affirming Top 40 song plays and the protagonist springs into action – striding into a boardroom to confront a soul-sucking boss, or tell off a repressive family member, or embrace a long-lost love, kissing passionately and solving all their problems with a press of lips and tongue, all while the music swells and the camera spins a 360 around them? This was my moment. If only I could get my damn feet to move.

Okay, there's a slight chance I'm being a bit hyperbolic.

No. No, on second thought, I'm not being hyperbolic at all because this is Edward frakking Cullen and you can't overstate things when it comes to him. And if I could just get my stupid feet to move and go talk to him, have an actual conversation, I just knew that we'd fall truly, madly, deeply in love and make tiny, little green-eyed, tousle-haired babies. I looked down at my stubborn feet, wiggling my toes and watching them move, the deep purple polish glinting in the sun. Okay, so they worked. There was no reason why I should be glued to my spot in front of the large picture window. "Move!" I hissed down at my feet, glaring when they didn't obey.

"Bella?"

"Mother of God!" I jumped, clutching my hand to my already hardworking heart as I spun around to find Jake standing right behind me. He was looking down at my feet, eyebrows creased in confusion.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I smacked his arm as I talked. "I almost had a heart attack! Are you trying to kill me?"

He grabbed my arm then, stopping my ineffectual beating and lifted his eyes from my feet to my face.

"Were you…were you talking to your feet?" he cocked his head to the side and if he'd had long enough ears one would have been bent, one standing straight up. A smile played at the corner of his lips.

"Yes Scooby, I was," I turned away from him to face the window and the door next to it, my destination. "They won't move."

I watched through the window as the future father of my children fit a white plastic lid onto the cup in his hands and handed it off to the teenager in front of him. He flashed a quick smile and I was certain she was blushing as she accepted the drink, leg bouncing nervously against the tile floor. He had a damn good smile.

Jake's eyes had followed mine and he chuckled lowly. "So today's the day, huh?"

I nodded, "If I could get my stupid feet to move," not looking away.

We stood quietly for a few moments before he shifted behind me.

"Well, I'm going to actually go in and get a drink. You want anything or you trying out coffee through osmosis?"

"No. I'll be there in a minute. I will." I glared back at him.

"One day, baby girl," he smirked, adjusting the frayed ball cap on his head before heading though the entrance.

"Don't call me that," I called after him. His shoulders were shaking with laughter as the doors closed on his back.

He moved up to the counter, greeting Edward warmly as he ordered his drink. They chatted as Edward turned his back to make Jake's drink, probably about the grad class they shared. I'd been focused on Edward, the cut of his faded grey t-shirt, the way the muscles in his back moved beneath the worn fabric, the way they'd feel under my fingers, when Jake leaned against the counter, his hip cocked so he was facing me and he winked when my eyes met his. With a devious smile he nodded his head towards me as he kept talking. Edward's head lifted and his eyes scanned the window before landing on me. He arched an eyebrow and smiled before looking back at Jake.

"Oh, no. Nonononononono," I shook my head, glaring at Jake through the window. He chuckled, pulling an eyebrow up. "Mother fucker," I breathed. With a deep breath I willed my feet to move and felt them carry me to the door. "Stupidstupidstupid poor excuse for a best friend. Idiot!" I was still muttering under my breath as I reached Jake.

"Oh hey Bella! I was just telling Edward here about how you're getting your MFA in creative writing at Butler," he smiled widely at me flashing his stupid white teeth.

"God damn fool," I mumbled.

Edward's eyebrows shot up and he looked at me curiously. There was far too much eyebrow raising going on for my liking. I felt my face heat.

"Oh, not you," I said softly, trying to kick Jake in the shin when I heard him start laughing but he moved out of my reach before my foot could make contact.

"I didn't know you were at Butler," Edward's voice broke through and I felt my face heat even more.

No, he wouldn't know that. I came into the store every day, sometimes twice a day, but our conversation never expanded beyond a murmured hello and my drink order. I rarely made eye contact and when I did it was fleeting, certain he'd immediately be able to see my desire. So no, he wouldn't know that about me.

"Uh, yeah," I said stupidly, looking into his eyes before immediately pulling them down to my feet to focus on the worn rubber of my flip flops. Too green; too green; so, so green. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, pulling the strap of my purse further up my shoulder. "You're there too, right?"

Idiot. I knew this. He knew I knew this. We'd had this conversation a couple of months ago when Jake had come into the store with me and they recognized each other from class. Because of course Jake would have class with the man of my dreams.

"Yeah, Jake and I have a class together, remember?" he asked not unkindly.

"Right, right." I rolled my eyes at myself. Well, this was going swimmingly. This is why our conversation never veered from the predetermined script. I was bad at chitchat. I was doubly bad at chitchat with someone I wanted to fling myself at, howler monkey style and make out with for hours upon hours. And I was completely incapable of chitchat when those green eyes were focused on me. Hell, I could barely form full sentences.

"What a crazy random happenstance!" Jake chuckled, smiling broadly at me over his drink, eyes wide.

"I don't think I've ever seen you on campus," the poor kid continued, ignoring Jake and not understanding that things were only going to get worse from here.

"Oh, um, I'm taking night classes. I work." Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. "During the day. I work during the day. To pay my bills." Woo, Stephen Hawking watch your back here comes Bella Swan. Jake's eyes were bugging out of his head. I shot him a hard look as he mouthed, "What the hell?"

Edward chuckled. "Paying the bills is always good. Believe it or not, coffee bitch is not my chosen profession. I just like to pay my bills too." My head shot up. Was he seriously mocking me? The crooked smile confirmed it. I blushed fiercely. I don't think I'd stopped since I'd walked through the door.

"Right. Well…" and before I could embarrass myself any further I practically sprinted to the two over-sized chairs tucked into the corner of the room. I flung myself down into a chair, pulling my legs up and digging through my purse just so I could keep my head down and let my heart rate attempt to return to normal.

"Oh my god, baby girl, you got it bad," Jake let out a long whistle as he sat down.

"Shh! Keep your voice down, ass!" I hissed. I stopped rooting through my purse and left it in my lap, resting my head against my knees as I hugged them closer to my body. "I hate you so very much. And stop. calling. me. that."

"You know, he's just another guy. He's not the end-all, be-all of the male species," Jake said softly.

I shook my head against my knees, not bothering to lift it.

"Baby girl."

I brought my head up sharply to tell him to knock it off. He was smiling, the jerk. He inclined his head back towards the counter. "I think Boy Wonder wants to talk."

I looked over to see Edward motioning me to come over. Christ. Would the humiliation never end?

Moving slowly I let my legs fall to the floor and stood. I dropped my purse into the chair and made my way towards green eyes and a crooked smile.

Coming in front of the counter I raised my eyebrows questioningly. Oh great, now I was doing it.

"You forgot your drink," he pushed a white cup towards me with a quick lick of his lips.

"Oh. I. Uh. Just let me get my-" I stuttered.

"Oh the house," he pushed the cup into my hands, fingertips brushing mine briefly.

"Oh, you don't have to- I can just get my- It's right over-"

"Bella," His voice saying my name was like melted butter over fresh sweet corn from the little stand on Highway 46 on the way to Grandview Lake. I looked up at Edward meeting his eyes. "It's on the house," he said more firmly. "Just take it and say thank you."

"Thank you." I ran my fingers through my hair, turning and taking a sip. I stopped halfway back to Jake and took another sip. I spun on my heel and marched back to Edward, frowning down at the drink in my hands as I set it on the counter a little more forcefully than I'd intended.

"What's wrong? Is it not right? It should be right. I thought-" Edward looked genuinely concerned.

"No. No, I didn't order this."

"I can re-make it. Or did you want something different?" He started mumbling a little, but I was too focused to notice what he was saying.

"No. I didn't order this." I repeated, jabbing a finger at the drink. I needed to keep talking before he started and distracted me with his stupid words and his stupid pretty smile and his stupid gorgeous eyes I could get lost for days in. Focus, Bella! "I didn't order this. But this is what I order. When I order something. I order this. But I didn't order anything today. Order doesn't sound like a word anymore. Fuck. Oh shit, sorry. You remembered. But it's kind of your job to remember…but you remembered."

Oh. My. God.

He was smirking now, trying to not to outright laugh at me.

"Bella, you've come in almost every day for the last four months and ordered the exact-" I held my hand up to stop him. With a small smile he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and rocked back onto his heels, but remained silent.

"You remembered," I repeated as he licked his lips. God damn I wanted to do that for him. I shook my head a little to clear it. "What are you doing Saturday?" The hell?

He looked a little shocked, hell I was shocked, but he recovered quickly. "Not a thing."

"Movie?" I was apparently beyond full sentences now. "Seven o'clock; meet here?"

"I'd like that," he said with a grin. Sweet lord he was pretty when he smiled.

I gave a decisive nod and turned, headed back to Jake who was pretending to wipe tears from his eyes as he smiled at me.

"My little girl's all growed up."

"Shut it." But I sat down gripping my drink in both my hands and brought it to my mouth to hide the ridiculously huge grin making its way across my face.

Well, that's all she wrote, folks. Thank you so much to everyone that read and reviewed. Y'all make me smile.