A/N: Hi! I'm glad you're all back to read where Bella and Edward will go after she realized that she loves him. I'm afraid there's going to be a long distance between them in this chapter. But that doesn't mean they won't have some fun together ;). I hope you'll enjoy it, too.

As always, this chapter wouldn't be what it is without the help of my wonderful betas evelyn-shaye and EdwardsMate4. Those two ladies are the best. The mistakes you'll find are due to the fact that I have the habit to change things around until the minute I post. So don't hold it against them. I also want to thank my friend and prereader Vampgirl79 for her constant support.

Now, enjoy what long distance relationships bring with them. See you at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just like to play with it.

******POMH******

Chapter 22 – Long Distance

Over the last few days, I'd developed great sympathy for couples who were trapped in long distance relationships. For years, I'd watched Alice and Jasper do it — on and off in various versions. They had tried to be in a normal relationship, which didn't work over a distance of about 3,000 miles. Only seeing each other once or twice a year didn't do it for them, so they broke up. But they missed each other, so the next time, they tried an open relationship to lessen the sexual frustration. They practiced it for about six months, but it was even worse. It turned out being jealous in addition to missing your partner hurts like hell. The result was, they broke up again. After being separated for about a year, Jasper agreed to move to Seattle as soon as possible. That finally did the trick.

I had watched them go through all that for about four years but had no idea what it must have felt like to love someone who was on the other end of the US until Edward went to New Orleans for business.

Three days had passed since we'd said our goodbyes in his car, and I was missing him terribly. I probably wouldn't have seen him anyway over the last two days, but I could feel the miles between us and each one of them hurt.

Several times each day, I opened the password-protected folder on my laptop that contained the photos of our special shoot the week before. Although Edward was far from being an experienced photographer, they had turned out surprisingly well. Each time I felt lonely, I clicked through the racy pictures with the result of having my loneliness turned into arousal, which wasn't much better.

Edward was very busy, pitching a campaign to a company down in Louisiana. Ever since his arrival, he'd been with his business partners, from early morning until late at night. We'd been texting each other a few times every day, but we hadn't had the chance to talk.

I was dying to hear his voice when, Wednesday night at ten p.m., my phone suddenly started to play Sexmachine by James Brown. I smiled at the sound while I picked it up.

"Hey, handsome," I breathed into the phone, totally relieved that tonight we had the chance to speak with each other.

"Hi, beautiful." He sounded exhausted. "I'm so glad to finally talk to you."

"So am I. How are you? You sound tired." I wanted to take him in my arms and cuddle him.

"I am. I'm tired, bored out of my fucking mind, and now that I hear your voice, horny as hell," he purred with a trace of desperation to it.

"Then maybe you should sleep," I suggested in a flirtatious tone.

"I couldn't. I canceled tonight's plans to go to bed early. I looked at our pictures earlier, and now I'm lying here in this big, empty bed, missing the way your scent is usually all over my sheets."

"Then I think I have the advantage here. One of my pillows still smells a bit like your cologne." I hugged the pillow in question close to me, burying my nose in it to take a whiff.

"Are you in bed right now?" he asked, his voice sounding playful all of a sudden.

"Yes, I am."

"What are you wearing?" he inquired huskily.

Okay, so phone sex was what he was getting at. I'd never done that before, but so many things were new with Edward. So, why not try this?

I attempted to sound seductive. "I'm wearing black boy shorts and a really tight white tank top with no bra under it. What are you wearing?"

"Dark blue satin pajama pants that feel very tight in my crotch, now that I'm picturing you in bed."

I licked my suddenly very dry lips. "Hmmm, my fingers are aching to touch you. Can you imagine my hand wrapped around your cock?" I purred into the phone.

"Oh yes, baby." Of course I couldn't be sure, but I assumed that he was touching himself, right then. "Do you miss me?" he asked in a sexy tone of voice.

"Yes," I answered simply.

"Where do you miss me? Are your nipples hard?"

I brushed my fingers over the erect little buds. "Oh yes, very hard."

"Touch them for me, baby. Pinch them hard." Moaning quietly, I did as he told me. "Are you wet? I imagine that your panties are soaking wet by now." His voice was like liquid sex.

"You have no idea," I told him while running my fingers over my panties.

"I want you to slip your hand into them. Can you feel the wetness?"

"Uh-huh." I breathed loudly.

"Oh, what would I give to be able to taste you now. Dip your fingers inside you and then suck your juice off for me." Although his request seemed odd to me, I didn't hesitate and followed his instructions. For the first time ever, I directly tasted my arousal. It could have been gross, but instead, I moaned when the sticky liquid touched my tongue.

Edward's voice was low and hoarse when he spoke again. "Hmmm, baby, you seem to like that. Tell me, how do you taste?"

"I'm fucking delicious," I told him with a smug smile on my lips as I heard him groan on the other end.

"Now put two fingers inside your beautiful pussy and fuck yourself. Are you fucking yourself, baby?"

"Oh, oh, yes." I licked my lips, imagining that his hands were touching me instead of my own. "Are you touching yourself, too?" I asked in return as I pumped my fingers into my center faster and harder.

"Yeah, baby, you bet. But I'm picturing your sweet, plump lips wrapped around my cock, sucking me off." I heard that it was getting harder for him to speak. But I needed to hear more if this was going to work for me, and he knew me well enough to be aware of that. "Now, baby, I want you to take your other hand and work your clit." I had to put him on speaker phone before I could follow his directions. "Are you working that clit?"

"Yes, oh damn, that's good." For a while we didn't talk, only listening to the other one's pants and moans.

"Are you close, baby?" His voice was hoarse with arousal.

I was panting heavily. "Yes, I'm very close."

"Fuck yourself harder and imagine it's me licking that clit."

I pumped myself faster, and the image of Edward's face buried between my legs did it for me. Suddenly, my toes curled, and my back arched off the mattress as I cried out in ecstasy when my climax hit me.

"Oh yes, baby, come for me. Fuck, oh yeah." I heard Edward groaning at the other end of the line, coming as well.

"Huh." I could almost hear the crooked smile through the phone. "That was interesting. Maybe now I can sleep."

"Interesting, indeed," I giggled. "And hot."

"Oh yeah." He was silent for a moment, as if he was deliberating to say something or let it go. "I miss you, beautiful." was what he finally said.

"I miss you, too," I sighed, my post-orgasmic high almost vanished.

"I'll see you Saturday, okay?"

"Yes, Saturday."

"Good night, beautiful."

"Good night, Edward." I love you.

****POMH****

I entered a bar that was packed with people, looking for Alice. It was Thursday night and I had agreed to meet her at an after-work party, at an in-bar downtown. After scanning the whole place for a good minute, feeling really stupid just standing there, I finally spotted Alice, sitting at the bar.

She jumped off her stool to hug me hello as soon as I reached her.

"Hi, Bella. Sit down. I kept this seat here free for you."

I sat down and ordered a martini.

"How's Edward doing in New Orleans? Have you talked to him?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"He's very busy. They always keep him until late at night, and he has to get up real early. Last night was the only time we talked." I took a sip of my drink to drown my disappointment.

"Is he missing you?"

"He said so. And, well, he needed some comfort." I knew I was setting her off, but for once, I didn't care.

"Comfort? You mean phone sex?" As usual, Alice preferred the direct approach. "Was it good?"

I felt my cheeks turn red. "Yes. I didn't imagine it could be that hot. But Edward can have a very dirty mouth sometimes." I couldn't hide a smile as memories of last night flooded my mind.

"Huh, I see," Alice cheered. "Did you both …"

I interrupted her, "Alice! No more details."

"Look, honey. You can benefit from my vast amount of experience in that department. Remember, Jasper and I did long distance for a long time." Her eyes sparkled with her eagerness to share her knowledge. Alice always tried to exchange dirty little stories with me, but my motto was more like a lady doesn't kiss and tell. Because of that, Alice got very frustrated with me at times, but I didn't care. And right now, it didn't matter. Our long-distance time would be over on Saturday.

"I know. But Edward will be back in two days, and I think we can wait that long." I downed the rest of my martini, and the warmth spreading through my stomach made me feel a little better.

"You miss him, don't you?" Alice asked, all playfulness gone.

"Like crazy. I didn't know it would be like this." I played with my empty glass to avoid her gaze. Of course, no one knew what I was talking about better than her.

"Bella, you're in love. That's totally normal. I know you're not used to being this close to someone, but you're so perfect together. You just need to talk to him." Just like last week, her assurance made me feel a little better, and I made up my mind to talk to Edward.

"I will. As soon as he's back and we have some time to ourselves, I will talk to him. But I'm nervous. What if he wants to just stay friends?" I hated how loving Edward made me so vulnerable.

"He won't. It's been in his eyes all along. Don't be afraid. By the way, are you sure you don't want to go dancing with me and Jasper tomorrow?" Alice handed her empty glass to the bartender who put a newly filled one down in front of her.

"Yes, I'm sure." For years I'd been used to going out with the two of them, and I'd never minded being alone, but somehow we had turned into a foursome, and I would only miss Edward more if I were to go to a club with Alice and Jasper Friday night. "What are we doing Saturday? Edward's flight is scheduled to land at four p.m., and he texted me that he wants me to make plans for the evening with the two of you." Although I would have preferred to have him all to myself for the whole weekend, I was okay with spending a few hours with our friends. We would have the whole night and Sunday to be alone, just the two of us.

"We could go to McKinney's. We haven't been there in a while, and we can eat and have a few drinks. I'm sure the two of you won't want to stay out very long. After all, you have to make up for the lost week." She winked at me, and I had to smile. I was sure hoping for a long weekend in bed.

If it could only be Saturday already.

********POMH********

A/N: I'm sorry that this was such a short one, but there wasn't more to be said about this and what happens next is a whole different story. I hope you enjoyed the little phone fun because from here on out, things will change. Here's a little preview:

… "Bella Swan, is that you?" he asked again, trying to get me to look at him. …

Who could be calling after Bella? What does it mean? So many questions. I'd like to discuss them with you in my Facebook group Payton79's Fanfiction.

I'll see you next week with the answers, and believe me, there'll be a lot more you've been wondering about for. Bye