A/N: Hi again! Here you are- another installment of Peeperward and Stripperella. Here's Edward's final POV. I hope you enjoy. I am getting all weepy and dragging my feet about ending but I do hope I do our boy justice.

I'm dedicating this chapter to SuperstarNanna who needs a little lovin. And to Skeezon who needs some immunity boosters. Happy thoughts to both my girls.

Disclaimer: I am not SMeyer, but y'all knew that about the time Bella took her shirt of yea?

On with the goods…


Part 28

"Mom! Tell Emmett he is not allowed to come to my apartment in Seattle to eat and do his laundry!" I hear Alice screech from the other room.

"Emmett," my mother chides. "You will have your own place. Why would you want to bother your sister?"

"She'll have food!"

"And we won't?" I scoff. I hear my mother grumble something about him eating her out of house and home and college. Poor thing spends way too much time at the grocery.

"I highly doubt that you and me and whoever we get as our third will have food like she'll have in her cute little studio loft with washer and dryer." He emphasizes that last part like he's about to throw a tantrum. "We don't have a washer and dryer, Edward."

"Emmett, I told you that we would put in a stack-able as soon as we can. You have got to stop whining. You're eighteen years old, for Pete's sake! Your sister is staying in a little loft all by herself and you don't hear her complaining do you?"

"No, she's not complaining, because she'll be able to shack- OW!" I laugh as my brother is pelted with a shoe. I don't like to think of the idea of my sister and Jasper in the biblical sense, but Emmett needs to respect some privacy.

"Yeah Pete, stop whining!" I taunt as he rounds the breakfast part, one fist clenched around a breakfast sandwich of pancakes and eggs, and the other fist just clenched ready for my face.

"Simmer down, Hulk-mett. You 'roid out and mom will be pissed at you for messing up more clothes."

He stopped where he was. "I can't help that I'm big boned, Edward."

I slap myself in the forehead. "Seriously, we'll be fine. I can cook; we can both shop. Alice will help if we need her to and our parents are three hours away. We are real men, Emmett. Real. Men," I say pointing at him. "We won't die."

"Maybe you won't die... that modeling stuff that Rose is doing is going to keep her gone a lot. I don't like that."

"That's has to suck, man. I'm sorry. But she'll stay with us when she's not traveling right? And she's making good money and that's a benefit?"

"Yeah she's saving up to start her own vintage car shop like her old man. God, she's like the best wet dream ever." I cringe slightly. "She's fuckhot, built, smart like no one's business, a model, knows a Lambo like the back of her hand, can label a classic muscle car by only hearing the engine purr, gives head like a lady of ill-repute, and she loves me and puts up with my shit on a daily basis... How fucking lucky am I?"

"Entirely too lucky, prat," Alice says as she skips from the living room through the kitchen to grab a water bottle. Emmett tries to trip her but she leaps right over his leg and scoots to the fridge.

"What are you up to this last day before finals, Little Shit?" I waggle my eyebrows at her as she chugs her water.

She throws the water bottle at me when she's finished but I deflect it nicely and earn a fist bump from Em. "Jasper and I are going to go look at places for him near Cornish. He wants to be close enough to walk to his classes, so we're going to go spend the day and just walk around, get a feel for the area. What are you two little gems doing?"

Emmett shrugs, "Rose is out in LA finishing her test shots for that teen magazine Boop or whatever. I'm not picking her up from the airport til late tonight. Ed?"

"I have to finish my paper for history, study for the last exams in bio, history and lit, and then I think I'll go see what Bella's up to."

"Why don't you study with her?" Alice asks as she finishes packing up some food in her backpack.

"School is really important to her, and to me, and when we're together, we don't always focus." I can't help the smile at the memory of us remaking the study scene from Billy Madison the other night.

"Aw! Look Ali, our little Eddie's growin' up!" Emmett squeaks out then throws a chip at my head.

"Fuck you, meathead." And with that I make my way to the stairs to go to my room to study. As I get to the top I yell down, "Alice, make sure you call when you get there and call before you head back!"

"Yes, sir, cap'n sir! Sheesh. You'll make a great dad someday Edward!" Then the door slams below me.

I feel a twinge of sadness creeping into my tightening chest. I look across the way to see my beautiful girl hunched over her ancient computer. Someday. I want to be a father... Bella and I would make great parents.

/-\-/-\

Finals seem to drag on forever. I know several of my exams go well, and I am positive I don't have anything to worry about. I'm relieved they're done and so incredibly ready to move on, work on my dream of following in my dad's footsteps, and of course, spending time with my girl.

The week's not done yet, I have two more exams to go and I'm home free. I can spend the rest of my week signing yearbooks and planning my summer. Unfortunately, the love of my life is a neurotic, anxious mess. She swears she's failed every exam she wrote and is so wound up that she's starting to make me nervous. "Baby, you have got to chill. There is no reason for you to be freaking out. You are the smartest. Chick. In The. School. Calm. Down." I say between kisses to her nose. "You are making my hair hurt."

"I'm sorry. I just can't risk screwing it all up now!" Her little whine makes me smile.

I bring her close and tuck her head under my chin and I squeeze her tightly as people move around us heading toward lunch. "Come on, let's go get food. You need to feed your brain before our Lit final. You can throw carrot sticks at Emmett again, okay?"

She nods a bit as I pull her along.

We aren't in the cafeteria more than a few minutes when Jessica, Angela, and some others wander over to where Emmett, Alice and Jasper are sitting with Bella and me.

"Emmett, did you really get a full ride to U-dub?" she asks with a flirty voice. I look around for Rose; she doesn't take kindly to this kind of thing. I see a wig in Jessica's future if she doesn't watch herself.

"I did." Emmett sits up all proud. If he had a tail, he'd be wagging it. "I'm really lucky. What are you guys doing?"

Jessica's face lights up, "I was accepted into Berkley, my parents are going to help pay for it all!"

I look over at Bella, but her face is stoic as she studies her salad. Reaching over with my foot, I nudge hers. She looks up and I smile at her. Still mainly concentrating on her salad, she half-smiles back.

"I'm going to be in Seattle at Cornish, studying photography," Angela says quietly.

"Very cool, Ang. Jasper will be there too, right man?" I motion to him but he's too far wrapped around my sister to speak. "Never mind then."

Angela smiles at me and asks, "What about you guys, Edward? Bella?"

I swallow and figure now is a good time. "I just sent in my acceptance paperwork. I'll be-" I get cut off by a thump and a yelp. "Bluebell, what the fuck!" Emmett is jumping up with soda all over his pants. I can't help but laugh with everyone, but Bella.

Looking mortified she apologizes profusely, "Shit! I'm sorry, Emmett! I'm so sorry!"

"It's cool, I've got shorts in my gym bag, but seriously, if you wanted me to take off my clothes you could just ask." I growl at him. Yeah, growl. Don't judge.

"Give me your keys and I'll go get your shorts from your Jeep, okay?" He throws her the keys and she walks off quickly like the devil's right on her heals. I follow her out and when she gets to the Jeep, I cage her with my hands pushed on to the roof. "Hey." I say softly.

"Hi." she returns.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." She's not okay.

"Can we talk?"

"I need to get the shorts to Emmett. I feel awful." She darts her eyes around avoiding everywhere but my eyes.

"Bella, I really want to talk , please. We need to discuss 'us'." I say to her forehead since she's now looking at the ground.

"Some other time. I can't- I just- I really need to go, sorry." She quickly slips under my arms and grabs the shorts from Emmett's passenger seat and swiftly run-walk back to the cafeteria with my brother's gym shorts under her arm like a prized possession.

I'm going to have to tell her at some point. No matter how busy she is. It seems like every time I get to a point where I want to tell her about school, she flits away like a hummingbird or ditches the subject like a hot potato.

Confused, frazzled, irritated, in love... I just don't know what to do. Maybe I should send her an email.

With that thought, I wander back to the cafeteria and my now cold pizza. I notice Bella is ignoring me completely. She's actually engaging Jessica in a conversation along with Alice and Angela about what to wear during graduation. Now I know she's avoiding me.

The bell rings and the bodies disperse to their classes, the resounding sounds of groans and quiet protests filtering through the air. Bella turns to me and waves, then walks off with my sister. Not gonna happen.

"Alice?" My sister turns to me quickly. "Did you see that Lauren Mallory is wearing those boot things with shorts today?"

She looks aghast. "Noooo!" And off she goes to harass the idiot about her footwear choices.

Bella keeps walking so I grab her arm and yank her down the hall. "What are you doing!" She yelps and squirms to get away. I don't respond, I just make my way back to the cafeteria and pull her onto the patio that's now completely deserted. "What is your deal, Edward! We have a final!"

I don't answer, I just pull her face to mine. She starts to protest, but I don't let go of her face, pushing her with my body against the railing of the patio awning. When her body can go no further back, I hear her moan slightly when she gives in. Her body starts to relax so I pull her up to sit on the railing. Her legs wrap around my waist and I can feel her warm body pushing against mine. Her hands weave into my hair and she's pulling me into her.

Our tongues move together slowly, but passionately. She's whimpering slightly when my hands explore her stomach below her shirt. My other hand moves down to her backside, squeezing and kneading her blue-jean covered flesh. I realize I'm creating a predicament for myself, but I don't care. I try to pour every ounce of love, lust, and happiness with Bella into our kiss. When her body is completely relaxed save for the legs about my waist, I pull back. She has a glossed-over look in her eyes and she's panting like a racehorse.

Giving her one sweet, chaste kiss on her lips I say, "Okay, let's take a final. Shall we?"

#~#

"Edward Anthony Cullen!"

Oh shit. My head ducks instinctively. Wait, that wasn't my mom.

I look behind me and find Bella standing at the door of my bedroom. She looks pissed. And hot.

Things have been going well with us since school started back. We've nearly finished with school and graduation is just days away. She's gotten several acceptance letters and even some scholarship reward letters which have made her father so proud. He's going around town talking about how his baby is the be all, end all of Forks students. I happen to agree with him.

Although, when she looks at me like that, I can't decide whether to be scared or horny. She has an aggressive side for sure. My mind drifts back to last weekend when we were playing Rock Band when no one was home. God, she was hot singing Pour Some Sugar On Me, swaying her hips back and forth as she sang almost on key. She kept grinding her ass onto my lap as I tried to play the guitar but she kept bumping my hands. She had such a naughty gleam in her eye and I know she was trying very hard to screw up my game. After she was done and I was thoroughly turned on, I decided to play dirty too.

Insisting that I sing the next song, I told her to play the guitar and she did, pretty damn well actually, but her concentration was shot to shit when I started crooning Sex on Fire. Face to face, I sang, playing with her hair, licking the shell of her ear, moving around her body, trailing my fingers along her neck and face giving her goosebumps. Before the song was even done, she'd thrown me down on the couch with this lusty glare and had her way with me. I might not have won, but I won.

"Edward!" My minds snaps back to the present.

"You okay, Bel?" I ask tentatively, leaning back in my desk chair, trying to assuage the growing problem in my jeans. I don't have time for fooling around, even if I really want some. I've been working on my final project in history. A ten-page term paper about an American war of choice. I have to describe the war in it's entirety but also explain how this war has had an effect on the modern world. I picked the Revolutionary War. Seemed to me like the war that started them all. Jasper of course picked the Civil war and has even taken to wearing one of his great-great-grandfather's Confederate soldier hats. He's so special. Alice loves it though. She keeps calling him Hottie Stonewall. She's special too.

"Do you want to explain this, you jackass?" My eyes widen as she shoves a paper from the school in front of my face. It's the letter explaining that she and I were both selected for Valedictorian and were to share the award. I declined asking to be Salutatorian and making Bella the top so that she would get the entire scholarship that goes with it, rather than us splitting it. I had asked our principal to not say anything to anyone, but apparently there were rules of disclosure he had to follow. And apparently, that meant I was going to get my ass handed to me.

"Congratulations, Valedictorian Swan," I say in a happy voice, hoping she doesn't give me a papercut on my eye.

"Oh, no you don't," she says when I try to hug her. "How could you ask them to give it all to me? What's wrong with you?"

"I didn't ask that they give it to you. You earned it, we both did, but I don't need the scholarship money." I duck my head, not wanting to say "you do."

"I don't want your charity, Cullen." She glares at me and I kinda wanna kiss her nose right that moment, but she might slap me.

"I am doing fine on my own." Her words are laced with a venom I have never seen before. "I am not a charity case for you to fix. I'm going down there tomorrow and making them fix this." She says while waving the letter around.

"Good lord, Bella!" I snap, standing quickly and bridging the few inches between us. "My love for you is not charity, dammit! Are you going to be this proud and insane all the time? Why can't I just be nice to you? Will you be this stubborn when we're in Seattle? Christ, what will happen if I try to take out to dinner, you won't let me pay? Are we splitting the cost of our wedding and honeymoon? Separate bank accounts? Why don't we have a pissing contest right now! Will you hate me if I can pee farther than you?"

"What?" She yelps.

"I was being dumb, I know you don't… bend that way," I smirk. "But still, Bel. I feel like we're constantly competing!"

"No, not that, Edward! The other part…" she says as her eyes narrow at me.

"You aren't going to let me pay for your dinners?" I question, completely confused.

"No, no, no, the part about Seattle. Why are you in Seattle? Are you visiting me?" Her eyes are frantic… she looks almost like a deer ready to bolt.

I bring my hands to her waist, not tightly, but holding her close to me. "I'll be in Seattle because I'll be going to University of Washington." I hold my breath hoping she's okay with this. That's she's more than just okay with it.

"What?" she says breathlessly looking up into my eyes. I see them turning glossy and wet. "No, you are not," she says flatly, no emotion. I reach out for her and she steps back a bit.

"Bella?"

"No, you won't be with me in Seattle. You won't. Don't say things like that. It's not fair. We will see each other at the holidays and stuff..." I can see she's fighting back emotions, her eyes filling with tears. I just don't know where all this is coming from. I wish I could fix it though.

I grab her hands quickly and hold them tightly as I take a deep breath and go for it. "I'll be going to UW. Living there, just like you."

"No, you aren't. Your dad told my dad you'd picked a good school. You were accepted to Dartmouth and Cornell and Princeton. You don't go to UW if you've been accepted to Brown, Edward!" She tries to pull away, but I yank her back to my chest as forcefully as I can without hurting her.

"You will be!"

"That's different!" she snaps, her eyes boring into my brain.

Scoffing at her absurdity, "How on earth is it any different, Bella?"

"It just is!" She's pushing on my chest trying to get away, but I won't let her go, she can't run away this time.

"Explain to me how it's at all a bad thing that I am not going to some pretentious university in favor of getting a good education near my family, having both my siblings at school near me, sharing a place with my idiot brother, and being just minutes from the most beautiful woman who has completely stolen my heart?"

"You... I.. fuck!" She sags and drops her head to my shoulder.

"This is not exactly the reaction I was hoping for, Miss Swan."

"I'm sorry. I am happy you'll be near me... I'm just afraid you'll resent me. I'm broken and you'll get bored. You won't get a white picket fence and two-point-five kids, Edward."

"Are you high? How could I resent you? I don't care about any of that bullshit, just you. This was my decision to make," I say loudly.

"It's just, what if you find after a while I'm not that great and you wish you'd gone to that fancy pants school."

"I want to be with your fancy pants, Bel." We both chuckle and I release her as we both sit on my bed. "Seriously, I decided on UW before I'd met you. I feel such a connection to you but that was not the reason I chose to stay in Washington. It's just a massive bonus for me." She takes a deep breath. "Honestly, I just didn't tell you because I didn't want you to think I was some kind of creepy, love-sick puppy following you to college."

I hear her sigh, deep and drawn out, her back is to my chest and my arms are wrapped around hers while she sits between my legs.

She starts, "I've got some pride, Edward. You can't keep trying to take care of me and make decisions for me. I'm my own person. Understand?" I nod into her hair. "Alright, so... we are going away to college together? We're those guys now?"

Laughing, I turn her slightly so her legs are over one of mine dangling off the bed. "Apparently, we are, my love. Just suck it up and deal. I will be around and I don't plan on stopping trying to take care of you," I kiss her forehead and then continue, "I love you, you bat-shit-crazy, beautiful girl."

She makes a weird noise and I pull her back a bit. "Did you just snort?"

"No." She ducks her head.

"Yes, you did." I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. If it weren't for my family being home, this would definitely be a turn on. I slap her ass and run her down the stairs while she's screaming and smacking my back.

"Let's go tell my family the good news, Porky Pig."

`!~!~!`

To say that my family was happy was an understatement. Alice immediately told me it was about time I manned up and talked to Bella about it. I gave her a dirty look in response. Emmett was oblivious to the entire thing and asked if Bella would come make us dinner. She agreed to once a week. He was trying for five days a week.

My parents were already aware, but I know my mom was happy that I'd finally talked it over with Bella. She continuously tells me how happy she is for Bella and me and how she hopes we'll be happy like her and my dad. I hope so too.

At some point in the conversation my mom invited Bella to dinner and told her to invite her dad.

Shockingly, he agreed. Mom and the girls went to finish making dinner and all the guys went about distracting themselves with video games and sports. Charlie came over about an hour later after he got off work. As we all sat at the table, he asked what we were celebrating. I swallowed back a bit of fear sitting in my throat. My dad threw me under the bus, "Son?"

I give my dad a "screw you" look and go for it, "Actually sir, I am celebrating my official acceptance to the University of Washington." Bella squeezes my leg under the table. I chance a look across the table and he has his cop face on. That's a fun look. "I'll be attending with Emmett, Bella, and Alice." I don't know why I felt the need to clarify.

"Is that so?" He's looking at Bella and she just smiles like a cherub. "I thought your dad said you were accepted into a bunch of Ivy League schools?"

"I was shocked too, dad," Bella interrupts before I can say anything, "I really thought Edward was heading east, but apparently he wants to stay with his family. Emmett and Edward are getting an apartment just off campus."

"What about you, Alice? Will you be in the dorms with Bella now that you are sneaking out early?"

My mother chimes in. "We felt it best to keep the kids out of the dorms and near each other. It will save money. We actually own a condominium complex down near the campus, we've been renovating it for years. We're going to let the kids stay there while they're in school as long as their grades stay up and they stay out of trouble." She winks at Charlie conspiratorially.

"Bella! You should stay with me across from Edward and Emmett!" Alice squeals with excitement.

"Not gonna happen," Charlie says flatly. "She'll be in the girls' dorm. With an RA. And security guards. We've already put the deposit down."

Bella just sits with a dumb-founded look on her face. "You already paid for my dorm?"
He nods once. "Yup, all taken care of, your first semester is all paid up, baby. I wrote the check as soon as I got my tax refund."

My heart warms from Charlie's chilly reception when I see her reach over to her dad and squeeze his hand. "You didn't have to do that, dad."

"We have one more thing to celebrate," I say as Bella turns a not so warm glare toward me. She shakes her head no, but I proceed. I raise my glass and say, "I'd like to toast, the gorgeous and brilliant Bella Swan, Forks High's valedictorian."

She looks incredibly embarrassed but she's smiling as everyone yells and squeals. I'm hoping that will keep me from being dead later.

Once we're finished with dinner, my mom and dad step out of the dining room to get ice cream for all of us. While they're gone, Charlie asks Alice why she chose to push it and graduate early.

"Well, Charlie, it really wasn't a hard decision. My support system was evacuating." She sticks her tongue out when Emmett makes an "awww" sound. "With Edward, Emmett, Rose, Bella, and Jasper all leaving, I felt left behind. I found out with all my cooperative education credit's I got while I worked at the boutique in Port Angeles and my summer's abroad, I had enough to graduate, with honors even. It just seemed like the right choice, you know?"

Charlie nods his head. "You didn't want some time away from your overshadowing brothers?"

"The Twin Terrors? No. I love my brothers. I want to be with them. And I think they'll keep me safe in the big city." Emmett makes "Gun Show" arms and I can't help but laugh at his dumb ass. "I just won't be cooking for them. They'll have Bella for that." I kick her under the table. She winces and gives me a dirty look.

"What do they have you for, Isabella?"

More blushing from my girl and now it's my turn to squeeze her hand. "Nothing dad, Emmett just asked if I'd come over and cook for him and Edward."

"You have your own business to tend to, you aren't gonna be minding these boys your entire time in Seattle."

"Relax, dad. He was kidding. It's not a big deal. And I'll be in the dorms blocks away, remember?"

"It is a big deal, young lady," Charlie states in his police chief voice and I see Bella shrink back a bit, something rare for her. I feel the same way. "We're spending a lot of money on your studies; I want you to take it seriously. You've got doctor appointments, all those classes and a lot of scholarships to keep, and I definitely do not want you wandering around Seattle at night."

"Sir," I interrupt his protective rambling. "You do not have to worry about Bella. I will keep her safe. She'll never walk around alone at night, I promise you."

I take a deep breath and hope that he doesn't have his gun.

Charlie just nods again and when my mom hands him a bowl of ice cream he smiles and thanks her. She hands Bella a larger serving with a treasure trove of chocolate on it. Her eyes light up as she thanks my mom. Emmett pouts until Charlie says he's going to eat his for him. We eat our ice cream while Emmett and Alice do most of the talking. A lot of conversations revolve around Rose and Jasper. My parents are fine with Rose staying with us when she's in town each week and Jasper is planning on renting an apartment near where he goes to school a few miles away. Everyone seems very excited for this next step. Charlie doesn't mention Bella in Seattle again and I'm not sure whether I should be thankful or not.

As Charlie and Bella head out, my dad pulls Charlie aside quickly. I grab Bella and scoop her into a tight hug, nuzzling my head into her hair and trying to discretely sniff her. I notice out of the corner of my eye Charlie shaking his head "no" then shaking my dad's hand. I'll have to ask dad what that was all about. Charlie heads out and Bella tells him that she'll be right along after.
We stand on the porch as her dad slips into the dark house next door with a glance behind him.

"Well, see? Now that wasn't so bad, right?" I ask tentatively.

She looks up into my eyes, her brown reflecting in the light of the porch lamp. The gold hue makes her look almost angelic, like she's glowing from the inside. I just want to keep her. I grip her shoulders tightly and yank her into my chest, pressing my lips to hers. I want to find a way to pull her inside of me and keep her with me. Always with me.

I lean back a bit and she steadies herself with a small smile. I see something flicker through her emotions and then she pushes her hand up into my hair, gripping it really hard. Almost too hard. I am sure I look surprised but she just smiles as she yanks my head down, running her other hand long my belt on my jeans. The combined feelings make me suck in a quick breath. As her fingers curl into the waist band of my jeans, she brushes her lips achingly slow across mine, just a feather-light touch, almost barely perceptible. Her tongue darts out and runs across my bottom lip. I'm stunned and can't think of what to do next. Then she pulls my lip between hers, softly sucking, then she bites it and pulls away just a hair.

I'm standing there, caught. My hair and belt in her hands and my lip between her teeth. My heart is nailing at a rapid pace against my chest and I can't think of anything I want more than to drag her upstairs at this moment and forget what I said about slow and sweet love making. She releases me and takes a step back slightly as I sway a bit from the sensations coursing through my blood.

She turns quickly to head down the stairs and calls out behind her, "At least he didn't shoot you."


E/N: Sooooo? Please share your thoughts. Where do you think we're going? ;)

Recs: Red by 22Blue is incredible. It's dark, but awesome. Forbidden Attraction by Sunshinegal3 is fantastic and adorable and brooding, just like our Edward. I'm also pre-reading Skeezon's new one… Ooooooh it's gonna be good, put her on alert!

The WIP that pwns me at the moment: Wrenfield Hall by Wannabe_Charlotte. If you are not reading this, stop what you are doing, submit, and go read now. Like Now. I'd love it if you would leave me a review, but then go. Seriously. Her writing is flawless, her words flow in this amazing prose that makes my heart pitter-pat as a former English teacher. She's the incarnate of Charlotte Bronte and Jane Austen with a touch of Maggie Stiefvater thrown in for artistic beauty. Honest to goodness, one of the best fics I've ever read. I'm currently trying to convince her to write her own book and let me beta. Seriously, that good.

Also a reminder: I donated a one shot to Fandom Against Domestic Violence. There are so many fantastic stories and if you donate to fandomagainstdomesticviolence (dot) blogspot (dot) com/ then email your receipt to fandomagainstdomesticviolence at gmail (dot) com, you will be sent the compilation! It is so worth it and for such a great cause!