A/N: For those of you that think I ruined a perfectly good story by adding secret agent crap (still love you), then this chapter will still work for you and this story will end without that coming in to play much more. :)

Thanks to avid reader Twilight104.

Twike, you had me at hello. Thanks beta buddy.

Characters are not mine.

Chapter 29 Wanted

Bella was sitting in front of Edward's house with a perplexed look on her face. Why was his house for sale? He said he wasn't leaving. Why was he moving? Did he think she wanted to move to Phoenix?

Bella knew she needed to get out and feed the dog, but she just sat there staring at the sign. When her phone rang, she slowly reached into her purse and pulled it up to her ear in slow motion without bothering to look at who it was.

"Hello?" she asked without looking away from the sign as if an explanation would magically appear on it.

"Bella! I'm so excited you answered. I thought you were still avoiding me. I mean I know you and Edward are back together, or something like that, so I won't have to keep begging you to love him again, and I know how that was making you crazy, and oh by the way did I mention how happy I am to have you as my sister. You are definitely the best…"

"Alice, stop!" Bella wanted to throw the phone out the window and run it over.

"I'm sorry," Alice panted out of breath from talking so fast. "I'm just so excited."

"Alice, why is Edward's house for sale?"

"Why do you think his house is for sale?" Alice asked innocently.

"I think the big red for sale sign in his front yard is a pretty big hint."

"Oh – uh … let's meet for coffee?"

Alice was already there waiting when Bella got to the coffee shop. Alice jumped up and hugged her. Bella couldn't help but feel happy when she saw her little friend with the disproportionally big smile. "Ali, come on. You've got to tell me what's going on. Edward didn't tell me anything about selling his house." They sat at the table. Alice had already ordered Bella her favorite drink.

"Bella, all I can tell you is that Edward loves you very much," Alice paused like she was finished talking, but suddenly more words erupted from her mouth, "and he worried there was too much of Sarah in that house, and he is hoping you'll live with him someday, and he wanted to live somewhere you would feel comfortable calling your own, and he's doing all this for you, and we've been looking at houses all last week, and I think we found the perfect… wait. I wasn't supposed to tell you any of that. How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Bella laughed.

"Get me to just start talking like that. I was only going to tell you that he was looking for a new house in the area." Alice held her hand over her mouth and shook her head.

"Edward's moving for my sake? He'll lose money on it with the way the market is right now, besides he loves that house."

"He loves you more, silly," Alice rolled her eyes. "He'd do anything to make you happy. He even tried to live without you, because he thought it would make you happy. It nearly killed him. I've never seen him so miserable."

Bella stared at her coffee. "I never … I didn't think it would affect him much. I thought it would be easier for him – I mean to be with someone less complicated."

"Bella, Edward is a complicated man. He needs a complicated woman. I've never seen him need anything like he needs you. You've changed him."

"What do you mean?"

"He used to be such a drama queen. I'm serious he was always thinking and brooding and worrying about things. Since he met you though, he's been different."

"Uh – I wouldn't call him a drama queen, but he's still definitely a brooder. Besides, his wife died. He's entitled to a grieving period."

"Oh no, you don't understand. He was that way long before Sarah died. They were deep thinkers, and they liked to discuss their deep thoughts. It was utterly boring if you ask me. With you he's different, he's more animated. Jasper and I talk all the time about how we need to thank you for what you've done for him. When you broke up, I was worried he… I didn't know if he was ever going to be okay. I'm just glad you're back." Alice grabbed Bella's arm and squeezed it affectionately.

"Well, he wasn't exactly taking no for an answer," Bella smiled.

"I love my brother," Alice sighed.

"Me too," Bella copied Alice's sigh. They both looked at each other and started laughing.

When Bella finished walking Aro the next day, she didn't leave the house immediately. She missed Edward, and felt closer to him in his house. His bedroom door was open, and Bella accidently found herself looking in his closet for one of his t-shirts to wear. She noticed some dresses hanging in the closet and tried not to feel disappointed. She couldn't get mad that Edward hadn't packed up Sarah's things yet, everyone had to do those kinds of things in their own time. When Bella looked closer though, she realized it was her clothes that were hanging in the closet. Edward had brought back her suitcase from San Diego and unpacked it.

Bella sat down on the floor of the closet and stared at their clothes hanging next to each other. She had goose bumps on her arms and a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart. The idea of sharing a closet with Edward was so domestic, and she found the idea of it comforting. She couldn't believe he was buying her a house. Well technically he was buying himself a house, but he wanted her to live in it with him. She imagined Edward coming home to her every day, and the thought made her smile.

She decided to send Edward some sort of mushy email, and went upstairs to his office. Edward's computer was locked up tighter than Fort Knox though, and Bella didn't want to call Edward and ask him for a password. Passwords in Edward's world were not something that should ever be shared. He might tell her, but then he'd probably have to kill her.

The picture Bella gave him of the two of them was sitting on his desk. Bella looked at it and smiled. Edward looked happy, and she looked happy. Her life hadn't been bad. She was generally content, but she couldn't remember a time when she could say she was happy with her life, until she met Edward. He was the missing ingredient that made everything else sweeter. Bella realized then what a fool she'd been for almost letting him go. She needed him to live just as much as she needed Sarah's heart. Edward was right. They were sent to her for a reason, and she was through running away from it.

Bella wondered what Edward would do if he came home from Seattle and she was wearing the engagement ring. She might be able to find it if she looked through all his things. As tempting as the idea was, she decided to wait until he asked again. She just hoped it wouldn't be too long. Edward would be home tomorrow, but it felt like an eternity. Instead of writing the mushy email, Bella decided she wanted to tell Edward how much she loved him in person.

It was hard for her to sleep that night. The more she thought about Edward, the more she missed him. Bella tossed and turned for hours and when she finally slept, she had a dream about Edward that would even embarrass Rosalie. Bella was slightly ashamed of her dream, and even more ashamed that she really wanted to experience at least some of it with Edward soon. Maybe instead of telling Edward how much she loved him, she should show him.

Bella had that idea in the back of her mind all day. She was busy trying to decide what she wanted to wear and what she would say to introduce the idea to Edward, while she was rolling silverware in prep for dinner service.

"Bella, you look flushed. Are you feeling okay?" Emmett asked.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about Edward," Bella blurted out. She closed her eyes and swallowed when she realized what just came out of her mouth.

Bella looked up to see the veins on Emmett's neck sticking out, and instead of slicing the lemon he was holding, he made lemonade all over the bar. He took several shallow breaths in and out, and Bella worried he might explode.

"Bella, you're not a little girl anymore. You are old enough to make an adult decision." Emmett took another deep breath and put down the knife and the lemon. Bella felt safer without her brother holding any weapons. "You just need to know that sex can complicate things."

Emmett shook his head back and forth quickly a few times like he was trying to clear a stray thought from his mind. "Emmett, please," Bella begged.

"Sit down," Emmett ordered in his don't argue with me voice. Bella sat, and Emmett sat down next to her.

"Bella, you know when I was a teenager through my college years, I got around. I slept with women I barely knew, and barely remembered them the next day. I'm really lucky I didn't catch anything, because that one girl at CU was nasty…"

"I'm not listening to any more of this. I'm not listening to any more of this. I'm not listening to any more of this," Bella held her hands over her ears and repeated it over and over rocking back and forth.

"Sorry, sorry…ugghhh. Seriously, she was gross," Emmett shuddered. "I'll try and make this less painful for both of us," Emmett grabbed Bella's hand and pulled it away from her ear. Bella sighed loudly and gave her brother a dirty look.

"When I met Rosalie, things were different. For the first time I didn't rush things. I was interested in more than her body, and I made that clear to her. I mean I was definitely interested in her body, she is smokin' hot, but I knew it was worth it to take my time. Once you start getting physical, it's easy for that aspect of the relationship to take over. It's hard to work on getting to know each other and growing closer in other ways once you introduce sex into the mix. With her, I knew her so well by the time we finally got there that it was the best sexual experience of my life up to that point. It was nothing compared to what that woman can do to me now, but…"

"I'm not listening to any…" Bella started again.

"Bella, just listen to me. Waiting with Rosalie was the best decision I ever made, and I truly regret what I did with every other woman. You and Edward have been through a lot, but if I were you, I'd wait as long as possible. I think there is something to be said for waiting till your mid forties to experiment physically," Emmett grinned.

"How do you know we haven't done it already?" Bella asked.

"I'd be able to tell if you had," Emmett answered decisively. "You still look virginal to me."

"Hmmmpf," Bella rolled her eyes. "Well, you'll be the first person I tell when Edward pops my cherry."

Emmett shuddered again. "I gave you my advice. If you need to know anything else, talk to Rosalie."

"But Emmett, I wanted to know from a guy's perspective if you think Edward would prefer lingerie or should I just go with completely naked?" Bella knew she finally had the upper hand.

"Aaaaahhhh!" Emmett jumped up, threw his hands over his ears, and ran for the door.

"When we're making out, I'm never sure what I should do with my hands," Bella chased him. "I usually go for his hair, and he seems to like it when I pull on it a little, but would he like my hands to go other places too?"

Emmett made it to the men's bathroom and locked himself inside screaming like a girl.

Bella cracked herself up and kept laughing every time she thought about it for the rest of the afternoon. Emmett avoided her like the plague, not that she minded. That was one of the most dreadful conversations she'd ever had, but she also realized that Emmett had a point. As much as she wanted to love Edward in every way, their relationship was already complicated enough. She made herself promise to wait until she was sure they were both ready. Still, she was anxious just to see him. As soon as her work was finished, she rushed over to his house to wait for him. She fed and walked Aro, but there were still hours left to wait. Even though she knew Edward wouldn't be home this early, she kept looking out the window hoping to see his car pull up. Finally she decided to distract herself by watching TV. She cuddled up with Aro on the couch, and felt herself fighting off sleep.

She woke up to Edward pulling on Aro's collar, and Aro growling at Edward. Bella didn't think twice before she got rid of Aro and replaced him with Edward on the couch. Having him near her was all she wanted, ever.

"I missed you," she breathed into his neck as he faced her on the couch.

"This is the best welcome home present ever."

"How was your trip?" Bella asked. Edward's face changed from content to troubled, and he moved his hand from Bella's side up to the back of the couch.

"I went to Forks and met your dad," Edward admitted. Several emotions hit Bella all at once. She knew she could easily chose to be mad at Edward for going to talk to her dad behind her back, but as she listened to him explain it, any trace of anger melted away. Edward realized how big the pain of her dad's abandonment was to her, and he was truly trying to help. He wanted to fix it. When he told her that Charlie wanted to make things right, she let herself hope, just a little, that it was possible. Every other area of her life was finally falling into place, and she prayed her dad would follow.

"You know, if I weren't so tired I'd probably be mad at you for doing that, but right now in my groggy state it seems like the sweetest most loving gesture anyone has ever done for me," Bella was determined not to let her thoughts of her dad put a damper on her reunion with Edward.

"Bella, it's going to get better in time. I love you, and I would do anything to take away your pain."

"Edward, take me to bed," she yawned. When she looked at Edward's face, she realized he'd thought she meant something more.

"To sleep, dummy. I'm just going to sleep here. Don't be ridiculous," Bella rolled her eyes at how adorable he looked.

"I know. I'm just happy you're staying," he tried to play it off. Bella let him carry her to the guest room and lay her on the bed. He tore off his jeans and climbed in next to her. Bella was too tired to even think about anything but snuggling up next to Edward and going back sleep.

Bella woke up the next morning and felt for Edward. The bed next to her was empty. She didn't like that at all. "Eddddddddddddwaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrdddddddd," she moaned as loud as she could.

Bella heard a loud laugh from the other room, and knew she'd accomplished her goal. Edward came running into the room and launched himself on the bed next to her.

"Finally, I was about to come in here and wake you up. Do you know what time it is?"

"Time to cuddle some more." Bella reached out and pulled Edward down next to her.

"No, actually it's almost eleven, and we have a lot to do today."

"I have to work in thirty minutes," Bella whined.

"No you don't," Edward said in a sing song voice.

"Yes, I do," Bella mimicked him.

"I called in sick for you. We are spending the day together," Edward announced.

"What makes you think I want to spend the day with you?"

"Well do you?" Edward reached over and tickled her side.

"Yes, in bed!" Bella grabbed a pillow and slung it at his face.

"Bella Cullen, we have things to do!" Edward moaned.

Bella's mouth hung open, and she stared at Edward in shock.

"What is it?" Edward asked worried he'd made her mad.

"You just called me Bella Cullen."

"Oh." Edward looked nervously around like he wished he could disappear.

"I kind of like how that sounds," Bella shrugged. Edward shone with a blinding smile.

"Are you going to show me your new house?" Bella smirked, and Edward froze.

"What the… how did you know?"

"You have a for sale sign out front. I'm hoping you're not moving to Costa Rica, so you can either hurry up and tell me what's going on, or you can just drive me over there and show me."

"That sign wasn't supposed to go up until Monday," Edward growled. "I'm sorry, that must have been really confusing for you to see…"

Bella cut off Edward's explanation with her lips. She kissed him long and hard trying to communicate that she wasn't upset at all.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" Bella pushed him away and exclaimed.

"Don't ever apologize for kissing me. That was incredible." Edward blushed.

"No, I mean I must have terrible morning breath." Bella held her hand over her mouth. Edward ignored her and tried to pull her back for another kiss, but Bella jumped off the bed and ran for the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and winked at herself thinking it was going to be a fun day.

Bella cleaned herself up a little and snuck into Edward's bedroom to get some clothes. She looked at what she had hanging in his closet. Most of it had never been worn, and most of it was for summer. Bella picked out a jean skirt and a v-neck knit shirt with a blue cardigan. Alice and Rosalie had made her buy these clothes to wear after she no longer felt it was necessary to hide her scar. Bella stood, looking at herself in the mirror for a long time. She touched her scar and sighed. She didn't need to hide it. Everyone knew it was there, but now she worried it was a reminder of things that were painful and confusing and complicated. Still, it was time to quit hiding from the truth. Things were what they were, and they could either face them head on and deal with it, or they could start pretending again. Bella didn't want to pretend. She wanted real life and real love and all the crap that sometimes comes with it. Besides, she had nice cleavage, and it was about time she got to show it off a little.

Bella found Edward in his office. He was working on the computer, but he quickly locked the screen when she walked up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. "You were just about to tell me about your new house," Bella said and massaged him lovingly.

Edward moaned in pleasure and leaned back into her. "It was supposed to be a surprise."

"I was very surprised, and Alice has very little impulse control. Getting information out of her is like taking candy from a baby," Bella bragged. "Seriously, all I know is that you are moving into a new house. That's it."

"I want to show it to you," Edward said. "I just got the news yesterday that they accepted my offer. The house is already empty and the realtor left a key outside."

"Well, let's go then." Bella grabbed his hand, spun his office chair around, and pulled him to his feet.

"Whoa mama," Edward said when he saw what Bella was wearing. "You look incredible."

"Oh this old thing," Bella played it off. The way Edward was looking at her made her feel incredible. His love had made her feel beautiful before, but she always assumed that was as much about her personality as it was about her looks. Right now though, the look in his eyes was full of want and lust and fire, and she knew she was responsible for all of it. It made her feel strong. She felt sexy. He wasn't looking at her scar. It wasn't even an issue. Bella couldn't help but smile.

Tomorrow there would probably be more complications and more problems, but today was about happiness and togetherness and perfection. Today it was Edward and Bella, period.

They got in Edward's car, and Bella didn't understand why he was taking her home. "Edward, I want to see the house," she whined.

"Shhhh," Edward looked over and winked at her. Edward drove past Bella's apartment toward the park.

"Why are we going to the park? I want to see the house!"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch. You'll see it."

Bella huffed and stuck her tongue out at him. "That was mature," Edward chuckled. He pulled around to the north side of the park, and stopped in the driveway of a two-story green house.

"No," Bella said with huge eyes and a matching smile.

"Yes," Edward laughed.

"You're going to live two blocks from me?" She bounced in her seat.

Edward frowned, "that's the plan I guess."

"Edward!" Bella shrieked and flung herself at him. She was irritated about the stupid gear shift in the way. After she hugged him so hard it hurt him, she jumped out of the car and ran to the front door. She bounced impatiently there waiting for Edward to let her inside.

Edward followed her slowly, but didn't seem to share her excitement. "Bella, we need to talk first," he said and sat down on the front step.

Bella worried she'd done something wrong and sat down next to him. "What is it?" she asked.

"I didn't just buy this house to live closer to you. I bought it to live with you. I mean eventually, someday. I just – I bought it for you."

"Well a big bow on the front would have been nice then," Bella crossed her arms over her chest and pretended to pout.

"Bella, I'm serious. I want you to know what my intentions are. I want to be with you always. Everything I do from this minute on isn't about me anymore, it's about us."

Bella smiled at him unable to hide her joy. "Edward, I know. I've done a lot of thinking over the past few days, and I want to be with you. I need to be with you. I feel like nothing in my life even matters without you. I mean you had me at hello. We go together like peas and carrots. Don't ever let go Jack. Uhhh, you've got mail? I don't know - oh wait! You're the wind beneath my wings. We've got a groovy kind of love. I don't know much, but I know I love you, and that may be…"

"I get it. I get it!" Edward laughed.

"Good, I was running out of song and movie quotes." Bella leaned over and hugged him. "I do love you."

"I do love you too," Edward squeezed her.

"Now can I please see the inside of my future home?" Bella groaned.

"As you wish, Buttercup."

A/N: Seriously there's only one more chapter. Let me know what you want to see happen. I keep changing my mind. If you don't review - I might add some aliens to go along with the secret agent crap.