CHAPTER 26 - THE EDITED VERSI0N!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the gorgeous Twilight characters. They belong to the wonderfully gifted, Stephenie Meyer.

College Life

You Jump, I Jump Jack – Chapter 26

Song – Just So You Know, by Jesse McCartney

Previously: I walked back to Edward's Volvo, but not before he could open the door for me. "Thanks," I muttered. Edward got into the car and followed behind Alice's Porsche as he turned on the radio. "Go ahead, pick any station," He told me.

I flipped through them and heard one of my favorite songs, Good Morning Beautiful by Steve Holy. I turned to Edward and watched him while thinking of our wonderful night and amazing morning. He turned to me, took my hand in his, and smiled, probably thinking of the same thing.

We didn't talk much. We didn't have to. Instead we let the comfort of each others presence and the music take over the atmosphere. I wasn't paying much attention when we hit some heavy traffic. Cars were almost bumper to bumper and although it was moving close to a normal pace, it made driving difficult. Eventually traffic did clear, but only for a little while.

About twenty minutes later we arrived at the beach. There we three parking spots left, one for Alice's Porsche, one for Emmett's Jeep, and one for Edwards shiny, silver Volvo. It was time to just relax for the day. Tomorrow would be a day worthy of some stress. I had Jake to worry about, and not to mention the Vince situation. But that's tomorrow. Today, I was at a beautiful beach with beautiful people.

And there was no way I was going to take a second for granted.

"Alice, it's time to get up," I spoke softly after turning off our 8am alarm clock.

"Uuhhhh," Alice moaned and rolled over. I caused me to laugh a little bit. Alice was always so hyper and energetic it. She was almost always the first one up and the last to go to bed. Sometimes I wondered if the word "sleep" actually existed in her vocabulary. I always just though she would "shut down" for the night.

So what could make Alice not her usual half perky, half annoying self? Shopping. "Come on, Alice. We've got to go. The guys are waiting for us."

She just turned over and pulled her pillow over her head. "I'll be waiting with them. We're leaving in twenty with out without you." I walked out the dorm door and right into a brick wall.

"Ouch," I said rubbing my nose.

The brick wall chuckled, "Watch where you're going, Bella."

I would recognize that musical voice anywhere. "Yeah, well I didn't quite expect a brick barricade outside my dorm." I looked up only to meet his brilliant green eyes.

He smiled, "Yeah, well the guys wanted to know what the hold up was, and sent me on their dirty work," his hand reached to take mine and it instantly felt like an unbearable pain was lifted, even if I didn't know that I was in pain at all. "Not that I mind."

I could feel the little bit of blood rush to my face no matter how hard I tried to suppress it. "Alice won't get out of bed. It's like she's having a Black Friday hang over." I giggled at my own metaphor. That's exactly what Alice was having.

Edward sighed. "She goes through this every year. She'll be up soon. Why don't you come down and with with the guys and myself?" I nodded my head, not needing to say anything, and followed him down the hall. "How was your night? Did you sleep well?"

His little comment caused me to smile. Every night since we returned from my first soccer game, two weeks ago, Edward and I slept together. I don't think I've ever slept better. And yes, we just slept.

"Not as good as I would have liked to, considering I was up for twelve hours shopping, and when I finally did make it home my bed was empty."

He squeezed my hand. "Sorry, but I did have some errands of my own to tend to. Plus the guys needed a 'man night'." He used air quotes around the words "man-night".

"It's okay. I was pretty much out of it by the time I got home. Thought I'm not going to lie, my feet still hurt from all the walking combined with my running. Oh, and the work out from soccer practice might have something to do with it, too." I shrugged.

"Well come on then. Let's get something in your stomach."

We walked outside where I was immediately engulfed in a grizzly hug which could only mean one thing... Emmett. "Hey, Bella. How was shopping? Get me anything good? You know I would love a gift card to... well just about any restaurant, in case you were looking for ideas." He winked at me.

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, I know Emmett. You've probably told us like five million times."

Emmett clutched his chest like I'd shot him. "Ouch. I was only trying to help you, always thinking of you Bella, and you go ahead and just tear me down. I'll remember that." He got an evil look in his eye.

I lightly back-handed Emmett. "Maybe I'll just have to take your present back then..."

His eyes got real wide. "What'dya get me?!" He asked, blurring his words together.

"Well I sure as heck ain't telling you now."

He got the look of a sad little boy who was just told there was no Santa Clause and that his puppy ran away look on his face. I turned my attention to Jasper. "Alice is running slow this morning... How I beat her up I'll never know. Maybe you'll have better luck at getting her attention then me?"

He nodded and started walking towards my dorm.

"And then there were three," I heard Edward murmur.

"Actually make that two. I have to go get Rosie cause she, too, seems to be running late and since Bella here doesn't seem to be leaning towards telling me my Christmas present..." He trailed off in one last attempt to squeeze it out of me.

"Nope... Sorry Em."

"Fine," He said, sulkily. "I'll just leave you here with poor Edward... Sorry man."

"I'm not," I heard Edward mutter as Emmett ran off towards his Jeep. "So what shall we do for breakfast?"

I turned toward Edward. "I have no idea... All I know is that I'd rather not go anywhere."

Edward thought about it for a second. Then his face broke out into a smile. "How about I cook you breakfast back at Emmett's and my place?"

Didn't have to ask me twice. "Sound's great."

Surprisingly enough I hadn't been to Edward apartment yet. Sure I'd dropped off Rose a time or two, and even met Edward out in front of it, but I'd never really been inside it yet. I guess we were just to busy or whatever. All I knew was I wasn't going to let an opportunity go.

Ever since my first soccer game and the weekend that proceeded it Edward and I were practically inseparable. And to be honest, that's how I liked it. We spent almost every second of the day together that we could, excluding classes, and even the nights where I would just sleep in his arms. It was my absolute favorite place to be. And even though it may seem weird to other, especially considering we've stayed at each others side as much as humanly possible, we still haven't kissed. We've taken it slow.

At times it does bother me. I sometime find myself wondering it there's a reason why Edward hasn't kissed me yet, but my rational mind knew why. He wanted to show me he was there for me, without having to be physical. He wanted to prove to me and possibly himself, that he would take care of me. And trust me, he was.

So it didn't bother me that he hadn't kissed me yet... too much.

Before I knew it we were outside a one story apartment. It didn't stand out much from the others but I knew instantly it was Edwards... or at least Emmett's. Outside the apartment was a red and white football helmet with the number 69 on it. I rolled my eyes. It was so totally Emmett.

Edward showed up at my door and opened it for me. We made our way into the apartment. Soon we were standing in the foyer. As Edward was taking my coat I looked around. It apartment was fairly big dispite the outside appearance. They had a pretty good sized living room with a chocolate brown sectional sofa with a matching wood glass table in the middle. On the wall hung a huge LCD TV, from the looks of it. There was even a fire place!

Before I realized it I was walking around and stumbled upon another room, most likely a Dining room. It had a nice long black table in it and looked perfect for nice dinners. I walked past that room and into the kitchen which was huge. All their appliances where stainless steel with chocolate brown cabinets. They even had a breakfast nook with a smaller LCD TV in it.

"Wow." The word escaped my mouth with me even noticing it.

I heard a musical chuckle behind me. "What would you like for breakfast?"

I turned to face Edward. "You've been holding out on me!"

His face broke out into a wide grin. "Only a little. The apartment is courtesy of Emmett's parents and Carlise and Esme. Emmett's parents own a chain of McCarty Sporting Goods along the Canadian border."

I just shook my head in disbelief. "So what's on the menu?" I asked, trying to hide my surprise.

"Whatever you like I shall make."

"French toast?"

"Excellent." Edward started running around the kitchen, getting out all the necessary supplies for our Saturday breakfast. When I got up to try and help him he gave me a look. "I don't think so. I told you I would make breakfast, and that I will. You just sit back and relax. Maybe watch some cartoons."

I rolled my eyes but sat down at the breakfast nook anyways. I had no idea what to watch and was just flipping through the channels when Gilmore Girls flashed on. Rory was doing an article for the Yale Daily News on the Life and Death Barricade and Logan was trying to get her to jump off a building with only an umbrella to hold on to.

They were a top the structure when Logan spoke, "You trust me, Ace?"

"You jump, I jump Jack."

"You know, I really should have made sure those potatoes were okay." Logan took Rory's hand just before they jumped.

Then I felt someone's breath on my ear as they spoke, "What are you watching?"

I turned to see Edward holding me out a plate covered in French toast and syrup. "Gilmore Girls," I said as I took the plate from him. I took a deep breath and could smell the wonderful mouthwatering scent. "This smells amazing!"

Edward chuckled as he set my drink in front of me. "Dig in." Don't have to tell me twice. It wasn't long before I was full with only half my plate finished. I looked over at Edward to catch him looking at me, his meal long gone.

"Well isn't someone a piggy?" I chided.

He sat back and patted his belly. "What can I say? I'm an excellent cheff."

I rolled my eyes, something I found myself doing a lot lately. "Not only is someone's belly inflated, but his ego appears to be fair big, too." Edward chuckled. "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"Hmm... well let's see. Alice hasn't called yet, which is totally out of character but I have a feeling that today is an out of character day for Alice. Thought I'm sure we'll be hearing from her so-" Not even before Edward finished his sentence was his phone ringing, and didn't I know who it was.

"Hello, Alice."

"Hi Edward!" I could hear Alice halfway across the room. Edward pulled his phone away from his ear. I gathered the plates while he was distracted and took them to the kitchen to be washed. It didn't take long to clean up breakfast's mess and since Edward was still on the phone, most likely arguing with Alice, I soon found myself wandering the apartment.

It was a beautiful place, really big too. There was two bathrooms, both very tidy which was odd considering two boys lived here. There was even an entertainment room which housed two computers, one probably Emmett's and the other Edward's. The entertainment room was at the beginning of a hallway and I found it to hard to resist staying put.

I walked down the hall past a room with the door already opened. I didn't go inside, not wanting to invade the boys privacy, but I could get a fairly good look from the hallway. The bedroom was done in many shades of gray and red. It had it's own little LCD TV. On the west was was a half a dozen or so shelves with trophies and medals practically falling off them.

Most of the other walls were bare, but after a second glance I noticed the south wall was covered in pictures. Most were from high school, it appeared, but I saw a good portion with pictures from Richmond. There were pictures of Alice Jasper and Edward, and even some of myself with the group at the beach. Thank God I wore a T-shirt that day. My eyes skimmed the pictures and noticed that there was even a section of Rose, just Rose, in the middle of all the pictures.

I turned from the room and continued down the hall. I could just barely hear Edward on the phone still talking to Alice which was good because for some reason I felt like I was creeping around. I practically tip-toed down the hall just before I came to the room. The door was ajar just enough to get a good look into it.

The walls where a nice beige color with the exception of the north wall which was a deep, rich chocolate color. The floor was wooden but was pretty much covered up by a thick white shag rug. The bed, that was connected to a wooden storage dresser on the right, was huge and was covered with a white down comforter, matching pillow cases, and a thick, large green brown and white striped blanket.

Next to the bed was a matching wooden night stand with pictures of our friends, one of which I could only guess to be Carlise and Esme, and even one of myself at my soccer game vs. Golden River. He had a small desk in his room which barely fit a brand new laptop and a desktop lamp. On the west wall there was a medium sized wood dresser with an LCD TV atop it, which you could see from the bed, and was diagonal to a comfortable looking long black leather couch.

His room was so warm and inviting that I hadn't even noticed I had taken a step in until a heard a cough from the door. I looked up startled to see Edward smiling at me. "Looks like I didn't have to offer a tour of the apartment."

I could feel my entire face go red as I broke his gaze. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I just got a little nosey I guess." I started to walk towards the door and out of the room when Edward blocked my path.

"It's okay, Bella. I don't mind." I wouldn't look at Edward. Instead, I made sure to stare at his shirt until his finger under my chin forced me to do otherwise. "Honestly Bella, I don't mind." And in his eyes I could see that he wasn't lying to me. "Why don't you come in? We're going to be here awhile anyways."

I followed him into the bedroom before I dawned on me that he had just gotten off the phone. "What did Alice say?"

Edward walked over and sat down on the far left hand side of the leather couch, leaving room for me. "She's dead tired from shopping. She said Jasper was going to stay at your apartment with her while she got some sleep. Emmett and Rose got tired of waiting for everyone, and so they went out without the rest of us."

"No surprise there." Edward chuckled as walked over to the couch and laid on the couch, my head resting on Edward's chest.

"Do you mind staying here, then?" He asked.

"Nope," I said, making the "p" pop.

"Good." I felt Edward smooth my hair and then kiss it. "How about a movie?" Edward handed me the remote and then covered us up with a soft emerald blanket.

"I haven't seen any commercials in a while. Got any suggestions?" I asked.

I handed Edward back the remote and he turned to the On Demand channel. "How about The Proposal? I heard it hilarious!"

"Sounds good."

And it was. We couldn't stop laughing through the whole thing. Such a better Ryan Reynolds movie than Amityville Horror. By the time to movie was over Alice still hadn't called so Edward and I had gone on to flipping through the TV channels when, once again Gilmore Girls popped up. Before I even said something Edward went back to it.

Luke and Lorelai were on their first date. Lorelai had asked Luke when they has first met. Apparenly some wild-eyed lady came barging into Luke's Diner, chasing him all around it asking for coffee. He kept telling her over and over to wait her turn. When she gave up with that she continued to annoy him into telling her his birthday until he finally gave in. Lorelai then tore out his horoscope from the newspaper and wrote on it, "You will meet an annoying woman today. Give her coffee and she'll go away." He gave her coffee.

"But she didn't go away," Lorelai laughed.

"She told me to hold onto that horoscope, put it in my wallet and carry it around with me. One day it'll bring me luck." Luke reached back, retrieved his wallet, and showed Lorelai the horoscope.

"Well, man. I will say anything for a cup of coffee." They laughed. "Umm... I can't believe you kept this. You kept this in your wallet? You kept this in your wallet."

"Eight years," Luke said.

"Eight years," Lorelai repeated.

"Lorelai, this thing we're doing here, me and you, I just want you to know I'm in. I am all in. Does that, uh, are you, uh, scared?" Lorelai didn't say anything.

I looked at Edward and found him staring down at me. We didn't say anything but we didn't look away. I thought about what Luke had said and wondered if it applied here. Was Edward all in? And if he was, was I scared?

I turned my attention back to the TV which had gone to a commercial. I didn't know what to say exactly. I knew that I truly did care for Edward, despite his record with girls. And that absolutely scared me to death. What if something were to happen? What if Edward got bored with me, or found someone else he wanted more? What if by that time I was really attached to him? What would I do?

One of the scarier things about this was I knew I was already pretty attached to him now. I see him practically everyday, and all our friends were his friends first. If something were to happen...

"Bella, what are you thinking about?" My eyes flashed to his but I still didn't say anything. What was I supposed to tell him? I didn't trust him? I don't think that's entirely true. Edward had already proven to me that he can deal with the world's most obnoxious person, Lauren Mallory, so I didn't really think I would be such a problem. I guess it was more myself.

"I was just thinking about us..." I trailed off.

"What about us?" He looked confused, almost worried.

"It's just what if you met someone else, someone... better?" I asked quietly, practically inaudible.

Edward's eyes widened, his arms wrapped around me tightly, securely. "Bella, I won't. There isn't anyone better. How could you not know that?"

I looked down away from his eyes. "But how can you know? You haven't been the to future," I mumbled.

Edward lifted my chin with his finger so I was forced to look him in the eyes. "Bella, there is no one better. I just know. Trust me." He spoke with such conviction that it was almost impossible to not believe him, almost. I looked away from his gaze. When Edward spoke again it was quieter, less sure. "You do trust me, Bella, don't you?"

My eyes immediately snapped to his. "Of course I trust you Edward." As soon as I said those words I know it was true. I did trust Edward it was just someone else I had a problem with. "It's just me that I have a hard time trusting."

Edward cocked his head to the side. "You're going to have to explain that one."

I sighed. "It's just... I don't trust myself to be enough. I don't trust myself to be able to hold you."

Edward's green eyes softened as he pulled me closer. "You don't see yourself very clearly, do you Bella." He looked my in my eyes. "You hold is unbreakable. Permanent. Don't doubt it."

But how could I not?

I think Edward knew what I was thinking. "Bella, you're unlike anything else. You're beautiful, amazing, wonderful. The way you walk is like your sheltering yourself from the world, like you're in your own little world where you're safe. You hardly let anyone get close. Alice did just because she's Alice and no one can deny her. Even Angela and you aren't as close as I previously thought. You're guarded, and yet you wonderful. You've let me get close to you..." He trailed off. It is true. I have let Edward get close to me, closer than anyone else. Even Jake, but that didn't mean there wasn't a way to go, if I could let someone get that close.

I looked back at Edward and saw the sincerity there. I knew he meant everything he said, every word he spoke and even though I didn't think I could do it, could let someone get close to me, I knew for Edward I would try. For Edward I would do anything.

Just so you know this feelings taking control of me
And I can't help it.
I won't sit around, I can't let it win now.
Thought you should know I've tried my best to let go of you
But I don't want to.
I just gotta say it all before I go
Just so you know.
Just So You Know, by Jesse McCartney

Hope you like this chapter. I know you all probably wanted
them to kiss but it just didn't seem right quite yet but I do
promise it will be soon... very soon. (--- FORESHADOWING)
Next update will hopefully be soon!
Please Review!!!

Oh and a side note... Did anyone see The Proposal? I love that movie!
Why don't you tell me what you think?

Or better yet... WHAT ABOUT NEW MOON?!