a/n: not smeyer

thank you for all the reviews, I guess even the flames. Whatev.
And for those of you who don't know this yet…I go in for surgery this Friday to repair a split tendon in my right hand. That being said…I obviously won't be able to type up new chapters with the recovery. Though I am working furiously to get several chapters typed and ready to go so I can periodically post while I am healing. And while I may not be able to type up chapters, I still want to chat. So if you want to show some love while I nurse my injured hand, pm me or chat with me over at twilighted.
Story pimpage of the day: Midnight Desire by twilightzoner. I love the monster!


School was back in session, and with it a marked difference in how I spent my time. I hardly saw Edward during the week, except for at night when he would crawl into his bed after hours of studying. Now that Emmett was living with Rosalie, I basically lived at Edward's place. We never had an official discussion about living together, and most of my things still took up residence at my dorm room, but I was always spending the night. I even had a small space in Edward's closet set aside for my clothes.

It shouldn't bug me, but it did. Why hadn't Edward asked me to move in with him officially? I know he was still living with Jasper, but the rooms were separated by a rather long hallway. And let's face it, Jasper basically took over my spot in Alice and mine's shared room. So what was the problem? Did he think that was us moving too fast?

No, I knew the real reason. Edward and med school. We had talked about this before and I knew that Edward wanted nothing more than to attend Johns Hopkins medical school. And that was all the way in Baltimore. Maryland. That was some 700 miles of distance. Edward, always the pessimist, doubted he'd get into his school of choice. But I knew otherwise. He was the most intelligent man I knew, not to mention his name held a lot of clout in the medical world. Johns Hopkins would rue the day they rejected Edward Cullen.

I wanted him to go there, I really did. He deserved all the best this world had. He deserved to go to the school of his choice, receive the education he wanted, and go on to work in a chosen field suited to his skills. But him going to Baltimore would leave me here.

He probably didn't realize it, but I would go with him if he asked. I loved him that much. I would transfer to University of Maryland. NU be damned. All he had to do is say it, and I'm there.

But that was still a ways off. Edward hadn't even taken the MCATs yet. We wouldn't know Edward's choice for some months still.

Even still, my heart and my head knew that this was the reason Edward hadn't officially asked me to move in with him. I felt heavy inside. Here I lay, wrapped up in Edward's embrace, resting my head on his chest, and worrying that I would crush his ribcage with the weight I was carrying around all the time.

It was only a few weeks into the semester and I already missed how things had been. 2009 was turning out to be not so great.

--

January had started off well enough. Edward and I had made the drive back up to campus, a few days early so that we could have some alone time, without his family interrupting us; something that seemed to happen all too much.

But unfortunately, the other 4 of our little group decided to come up early too. Emmett did have to move all his stuff over before the semester started after all. and that meant we all had to help. They had horrible timing.

I stared down at Edward's long slender fingers, slowly unbuttoning the shirt I was wearing, trailing each digit along the skin that became exposed to his view. My breath had grown ragged with the anticipation of things to come. Edward's eyes caressed my body along with his hands once my shirt was shrugged off.

"Bella, I love you." Edward's eyes burned into mine, searing me with the depth of his emotions.

"I love you more."

"Not possible, love." He sealed his statement with a sweet kiss to my lips.

"Show me how much you love me." I murmured the words against his lips. And in response I could feel his smile pressed against my swollen ones.

His hands, that had been roaming across my shoulders, down my back, up across my stomach, were now coming to the valley between my breasts. I was wearing a front clasping bra, and was all too anxious for his deft fingers to snap it open and set me free from the cotton confines.

"Eddie bo….oh!" Emmett had bounded into the room, mere seconds before Edward could throw off my bra.

"Shit Emmett, fucking knock!" Edward was furious. Not only was his older brother interrupting us, something that seemed to be a favorite past time of his, but also was thisclose to seeing me completely topless.

"Hellooooo Bella!"

"Emmett!" I screamed at him as my hands flew up to help cover what my open bra could not.

I heard a loud slap and a low grunt as I realized Rosalie was standing right behind Emmett, having just smacked the back of his head. Good. He deserved that shit.

So for the rest of the day, we spent our time packing and hauling instead of sucking and blowing. It wasn't fun. Rosalie became dictator of the move, instructing us all where to unload the boxes. We were all covered in sweat and dirt as she stood on the sidelines pointing us in the right direction. Who agreed that she didn't have to lift a pinky to help? Probably Emmett.

Rosalie asked me to move a box filled with books and magazines into her room. The box held an innumerable amount of SI: Swimsuit Editions and Playboys that Emmett had saved up over the years. Needless to say, the box was extremely heavy. I was having a hard time opening her door while still keeping a grip on the damn box. It was slowly slipping from my hand when I finally came tumbling into Rosalie's room.

With a final grunt and push, I got the box onto her oversized canopied bed. I had to sit to take a moment and rest. Why she asked me to bring in this box was beyond me. she should've asked Emmett. I didn't want to get up, having just gotten comfortable, but I heard my friends calling to me from the living room.

As I got up, I noticed a rather familiar looking book sitting on Rose's side table. I would've mistook it for the same one, except this book looked too new, missing the dog eared pages from Edward's rather vigorous perusals. Plus it had a sales receipt tucked in like some bookmark. What the hell? Did Rose seriously go out and buy a copy? My friends killed me with this. they hear Edward and I the night of my return and cannot let it go.

I walked out, shaking my head a little at the ridiculousness of the whole situation, to hear Emmett pleading with Jasper.

"C'mon Jasper, hand me a slice!"

"Did you hear something Alice?" Jasper's voice sounded laced with laughter.

"KT? Pizza please?"

"Who's Katie?" I asked as I stepped into the living room to find my friends sitting on the floor surrounding several boxes of pizza and beer.

"I don't know. Who is this KT person you are referring to Emmett?" Jasper was smirking at him by this point.

"Fine, you jackass. King Tong, hand me some of that Hawaiian. You're such a dong."

"You set the terms, my friend. Reap what you sowed."

Everyone in the room erupted in laughter, except for me and Emmett who continued scowling. I was confused by everything that had just gone down. I did not know what the hell King Tong was supposed to mean, but a part of me was afraid it had something to do with the now infamous book that was sitting in Rosalie's room. Would they ever stop with this?

"Love, are you ready to go?" Edward stood up and extended a hand to me. I gladly took it, wanting to get back to what Edward and I had started earlier in the day.

"So…King Tong…" I started once we had made it to the safety of the Volvo. "Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not."

"It's probably not a coincidence that Rosalie has a copy of the Kama Sutra in her bedroom though, huh?"

"She does? I didn't know that. It's about time they went and got their own copy."

"What do you mean, their own copy?"

"Well, Jasper and Emmett wanted to use mine. I let Jasper borrow it, and Emmett's been a bit sullen over the whole thing." Edward started chuckling then.

"Wait, so you don't have it in your possession? But what about tonight?" I pouted at him. "I was looking forward to trying some new positions."

"Don't worry, love. I got em all in here." He tapped the side of his head, throwing me a sexy crooked grin.

--

The remaining days of our winter break had been rather…exhausting. Not only did Edward want to try out every single position in the book (some of which are so impossibly complicated we ended up scrapping them), but the day before classes resumed I got a rather official looking piece of mail from the financial aid and scholarship office at school.

"Bella! Open it, hurry please." Alice was sitting by my side as I nervously chewed on my lower lip, afraid of what the letter inside said.

"Don't worry love, I'm sure it's good news." Edward placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, giving me light squeezes there.

"Alright." I gave in, and with shaking hands, placed one finger under the flap and tore open the envelope. My eyes scanned over the letter.

"Well?" Alice questioned, trying to read the letter over my shoulder.

"I got it! I got the scholarship!" I jumped up, shocking the two Cullens that were by my side.

"That's wonderful!" Alice threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

"Excellent Bella. That means you can focus solely on your coursework and not worry about finding a job." Edward smiled hugely at me then came to kiss me, despite the fact that his sister was attached to me still.

"Ew, don't do that!" Alice let go and stepped back so Edward could congratulate me properly.

"You know what this means, right?"

"Uh…"

"I'm leaving now." Alice got up and walked out of our room, probably to pay Jasper a visit.

"Congratulatory sex my love." Edward's smile grew wicked as he pushed me back towards my bed, my knees buckling as I hit the mattress.

"Edward!" I giggled as Edward crawled closer to my body, pushing me down so I lay flat on my back.

"Right now, my beautiful Bella, is all about you."

Edward lowered his face to mine, pressing those luscious lips to mine, sending me into a frenzy from the heat of our kiss. He was amazing with his mouth, making me melt from just one touch to mine. I moaned into his open cavern as his heavy hot tongue twisted with mine, forcing the movements back into my mouth.

I watched as Edward's hands trailed down lower and lower on my body, stopping occasionally to explore the curves of my body. He unhooked the button on my pants, unzipping me and tugging the jeans off my body as slowly and gently as he could manage. I sat up, trying to grab onto his chest and rip off his shirt so that we could be in equal states of undress.

"No, no Bella. I said this was all about you. Just lay back and enjoy." He gave me one last kiss before moving down my body, his head hovering over my lower half.

Without another word, Edward hooked his thumbs in my underwear and ever so teasingly began to move them down my legs. His face came closer and closer to my heated sex as he removed the obstructive clothing. I could feel him blow cool air against the warm liquid that was pooling in between my lips, threatening to spill over and run down my thighs.

"My god Bella, you are so fucking wet for me."

I nearly came unglued as Edward's long thick tongue slowly licked up my slit, catching the overflow of my juices and drawing them into his mouth. And when he groaned out a loud "mmm" of satisfaction, my body began to tremble in anticipation of what I knew he'd do next.

Ever so slowly, he used his fingers to part my drenched lips apart, revealing my most sensitive spot to his sight. It was as if he wanted to take his time with me, draw out the pleasure that was slowly building in me. his finger began to work small feather light circles around my clit as his tongue continued lapping at my entrance, devouring me. I squirmed and writhed as he continued to work me with his tongue and fingers.

But Edward's massive hands clamped down on my thighs to still my movements as he plunged his tongue inside me.

"Edward!"

I couldn't help but scream out at the sudden rough pleasure he was giving me. the gentle motions of his tongue on mine had turned into the tongue fucking I knew he couldn't keep from doing for long.

"Don't squirm Bella." He paused his actions to tell me, tentatively letting go to test my limits.

When I did not move, he continued his tonguing on me. I tried so hard not to move, but the arching of my back as he continued to lick and bite at my clit was undeniable. Edward placed a fingertip at my entrance, slightly toying with me as he inserted then withdrew.

"More Edward." I panted out.

"Your wish, my love."

One finger slowly slid inside me, twisting and curling, hitting me deep within my walls. It was enough to send me flying as white spots burst behind my closed lids. Edward's tongue was relentless as he continued to lick and swirl around my clit, drawing out my orgasm to near painful levels. It was so intense, I felt like my heart had stopped from it.

Once I had finally calmed down from the waves of pleasure, Edward moved back up to cradle me against his body. I immediately moved to undo his belt buckle when he once again stilled my hands.

"I said it was all about you, Bella. I do not want anything in return. Not tonight anyway." He winked at me then pulled me closer to his chest, burying his head in my hair. I heard him inhale deeply and let out a low sigh.

--

But that was all before classes started. Now it seemed as if we hardly had time to do anything but throw in a quickie in between my classes or Edward's prep course. Don't get me wrong, the orgasms were still intense and amazing. But the quick fucks were nothing on the intimacy I felt when Edward and I took our time to really explore and touch every inch of each other's bodies.

Edward was just too tired from his studying to do much but eat and sleep. I felt bad for him. he worked himself too hard and I worried terribly for when he actually got into med school. If he was working this hard now, how would he fair while taking actual classes and trying to pass exams? And then, how would get through his interning at whatever hospital he ended up at? I worried for his health and his sanity. I know he's strong, but I had heard stories of people cracking under the pressure. I didn't want that happening to Edward.

So it was with that in mind that I sought out Alice's help for a night of fun. The weekends were the only time I could try and drag Edward away from his studies. So I made him promise that this Saturday he would come out with all of us. Alice had mentioned going to the city to see the Neo-futurists.

I didn't really have a clue as to what or who they were, only that we would be seeing some show called "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind." But the name of the show didn't help give away what to expect. The show didn't start until 11:30pm or something like that, so we had all day to play in the city if we so chose.

But unfortunately, Edward had a class to attend in the early part of the afternoon. He couldn't skip out on it, seeing how he had spent a couple grand on the course. So I would be spending the day as a fifth wheel, something I was not very comfortable with. Edward reassured me that he would meet up with us that night for dinner and the show. I tried not to worry.

Saturday dawned crisp and bitter cold. There was snow covering the ground, making it blindly bright out with the sun reflecting off all of the whiteness. My favorite place to be on cold days like this was wrapped up in Edward's arms, on his bed, under the thick down comforter spread across us. I could almost sleep naked with how warm Edward's body was pressed against mine, our combined body heat causing enough sweat and steam to better suit a sauna. This was especially so when I wanted to help Edward unwind after a stressful day of studying, usually going down on him to erase any tension he may have been carrying.

Like last night, he was so tense and frustrated from the day, when he came he shot off like a canon in my mouth, nearly gagging me on his cum. That was a first. When he heard my throaty noises of disagreement against his seed shooting down my throat, Edward blushed pink and started apologizing.

"Edward, it's not your fault. You can hardly blame yourself for the velocity at which your semen leaves your dick." I don't think that appeased him though, since he just shook his head and nuzzled into my neck, not uttering a word the rest of the night.

He fell asleep quickly, the obvious shame he felt not affecting him too much. I was left lying awake for some time, wondering why just a day of studying could be so stressful for him. it had to be more than that. Was he worried about what schools he'd be accepted to? Worried about what would happen to us if he had to leave the city, or even the state?

I know I was worried about it.

But now, with his angelic face so peaceful with sleep, I couldn't think on anything too troublesome. I was just too enamored with this man, too caught up in how beautiful he was to worry much. I watched as his chest rose and fell slowly, the breath leaving his slightly parted lips. His face held no trace of strain or frustration. The only sign of disturbance was the darkening circles under his eyes, slightly purplish and resembling bruises from lack of sleep. He was working himself too hard.

"Bella. I love you." Edward mumbled out, pulling me closer to him so I could no longer effectively stare at his gorgeous face.

"Edward, how long have you been awake?" I was a bit wary that he had caught me staring, something that I know I did not like while I slept. If he knew I did the same to him, he'd feel he had the right to do so whenever he pleased.

But I got no response from Edward besides more deep, slow breathing. Was he still asleep? This was new. I was always the one sleep talking. Edward had never even so much as muttered in his sleep, let alone blurt out full sentences.

The smile growing on my face almost hurt my cheeks. He was dreaming about me. I wiggled my body to move up his, trying not to disturb his slumber, but desperately wanting to kiss his soft lips.

I was just barely pressing my lips to his when my cell phone rang. The sudden music jolted Edward awake, who I was mid kiss with.

"Good morning my love." Edward said against my lips. "This is quite the way to wake up in the morning." He went to deepen the kiss but two things stopped me: our morning breath, and my phone ringing shrilly by my side. When I pulled away from the kiss, Edward jutted out his bottom lip in that irresistible Cullen pout.

"Bella, are you getting ready for today? Make sure you dress warm because we'll be outside for a big part of the day." Alice was rattling off sentences without any regard to whether or not it was really me who answered the phone.

"Mmhmm, yeah sure Alice. Bye." I hung up, wanting to get back to my very sexy boyfriend.

"What are you guys doing in the city today?" Edward smiled at me, but it didn't touch his eyes, dark and dull with the pain of not being able to join us until later.

"I'm not sure, something outside because Alice told me to bundle up. Though how warm I can get without you is beyond me." I snuggled in deeper against Edward's chest. His only response was a heavy sigh.

We sat in silence for a few minutes more before Edward announced he had to get up and ready for the day. I would have preferred laying here with him to anything else, but it seemed we couldn't stop time from rushing on.

I met up with the other four of our gang outside Emmett's hummer. It was weird to think about riding into the city without being cramped in the backseat. The hummer was one of the first places I had been able to talk to Edward so many months ago. That was back when we were both fighting our mounting attraction, both in denial of what could and eventually would happen. I couldn't help but smile just a bit when I thought back to how awkward and confusing those times had been.

We decided that the first stop had to include food. Emmett was big on this idea of course. So, we made the trek to Soupbox, somewhere that had even better soup than Panera. I was doubtful; I had loyalties to that place. We got in line at the crowded little restaurant, looking over the different photographs from local artists. It was quaint and warm inside, which was refreshing to the biting winds of Chicago winter.

"I'll try the lobster bisque, in a bread bowl of course." I placed my order as my friends surrounding me laughed.

"Is anyone else getting major Seinfeld flashbacks here?" Jasper's eyes were gleaming with mirth.

"NO SOUP FOR YOU." Emmett practically shouted, making the woman in front of him almost drop her bowl. The lady hurried away muttering "fucking idiot" under her breath. That just made us laugh harder.

When we had finished our soup (the bread bowl with it was way too much to eat), I was actually too warm. and oddly enough quite grateful to step outside to cool down some. I told Alice that and she just beamed at me.

"What are we doing now?"

"Ice skating!" Alice began to walk faster, dragging Jasper behind her as the rest of us followed.

Rosalie was soon shivering and I watched with somewhat dismay as Emmett wrapped a burly arm around her. This sucked. A lot. I was by myself with two of the most engrossed couples ever. I bet they would forget I was here. And I ached to have Edward here with me. call it cliché, but I wanted to go ice skating with him. it would not only be romantic, but much safer if I had Edward's arms around me for protection. There's no telling what kind of hurt I could cause with sharp skates.

We walked over to the McCormick-Tribune skating rink and saw hundreds of people in the area either waiting to skate or just finishing. It looked so picturesque, especially when in regards to the hustle and bustle that surrounded the rink. Couples were holding hands as they made circuits around the rink. Little children were forming trains and playing crack the whip. And every so often you'd see a more trained skater doing jumps and spins in the air.

Again, it made me miss Edward.

The two couples were so eager to go skate that they hardly realized my hesitancy to join them on the ice.

"Get your ghetto booty out here Bella!"

Ghetto booty? Where did that come from?

"Um, something tells me that me plus ice equals disaster."

"Don't worry, we won't let you fall." Jasper was trying to ease my nerves and I knew it. it almost worked, though not quite.

They all took turns holding my hand, guiding me along the perilous rink. Every once and awhile we'd all join hands and laugh hysterically as we formed a human wall that other skaters had to go around.

It was fun, but I couldn't fully enjoy it. I felt wrong doing this without Edward. This was his family, his group of friends. He knew them first. Yet here I was enjoying the Saturday with them while he was trapped in some room trying to prepare for one of the most important tests in his life. My eyes began to water from the sorrow I felt for having Edward miss out on this. but the cold wind made the tears burn in my eyes, so I had to blink them out furiously. Besides, I didn't want my friends to see me like this. I'm sure Emmett would just tease me and Alice would undoubtedly want to talk about it til my lungs gave out on me.

The sun had begun to set as we packed up our things to leave the ice rink. Now that I was thoroughly chilled to the bone, I was in need of warming up again. And it seemed that everyone had worked off all the soup they had eaten from before. So now we needed to decide what to do for dinner.

"Edward should be done with his class soon!" I was trying to not sound so pathetically excited, but it slipped out a bit.

"Why don't you call him already?" Rosalie just rolled her eyes at me, as if annoyed by my exuberance towards Edward.

I pulled out my phone as we walked towards Medici on 57th. Apparently they had amazing hot chocolate and delicious burgers. Edward's phone rang several times with no answer. I just assumed it meant he wasn't quite finished with his course. So I left a quick message telling him where we were and to meet us as soon as possible.

We arrived at the restaurant and were greeted with mouth watering aromas wafting towards us. Emmett all but ran towards the door, eager to get seated and start eating. I kept pulling out my phone. Maybe it's on silent, so that's why I haven't heard his call. But when I checked, I had no missed calls. Well maybe the calls aren't going through. So I had Alice call me to make sure. Her call went through. So I was left thinking that Edward had just decided not to call back. And why the hell would he decide that? I was angry but also worried. What if something happened to him, if he got in an accident? And I'm wasting time being angry when he's bleeding somewhere?

My worries were spiraling out of control until the hostess directed us to our seat. We had mentioned we were waiting for a sixth person, so she ushered us to a large table. I took my seat next to the empty place setting, still pulling out my phone every other minute.

It was getting unbearable. I tried calling again and it again went to voicemail. This time I left not such a nice message. I couldn't understand what Edward was doing that would keep him from calling me back and hauling ass over to where we were all waiting.

"I'm not gonna sit around and wait for Edward to get here to order. I'm fucking starving."

Everyone placed their orders. I stuck with just a hot chocolate. I had lost my appetite half an hour ago when Edward should've been done. My stomach was too busy twisting itself into knots.

The restaurant stayed open til midnight, a good thing since none of us felt like leaving until we had to in order to get to the theater where we would be watching the Neo-futurists. I of course also saw relief in this fact because I didn't want to cross paths with Edward if he was on his way. Because maybe it was his phone that was broken and that's why I had yet to hear from him.

But now it was 10:15, and there was still no Edward. We had all tried calling him by this point. No one had gotten through. But no one seemed near as worried as I did. What the hell? I was so nervous it was coming out of my limbs, my legs twitching and jerking as they bounced under my chair. Jasper reached a hand out to stop my movements, again, trying to diffuse the situation as only Jasper was known to do. It was no use though.

"Bella, c'mon, we gotta go so we can get in line and wait for the theater to open."

"Huh?"

"Seating is first come first serve. We wanna get there early enough to get good seats. You're gonna love this!" Alice jumped up and clapped as per usual, but her highly contagious good mood was not catching on. I had officially become a sour puss.

Back into the frigid cold, only to wait outside for the damn doors to open, and no warmth from Edward to be had. I was so bitter at this point that I almost considered just getting a cab back to my, I mean, Edward's place. Though I was so pissed off at him that I would probably go to my dorm instead of seeing him. but probably not, I couldn't do that. I was too obsessed with the boy to stay away.

Once the doors opened, we headed inside to buy our tickets. The theater group had an interesting way of how to price them out. You paid a flat rate of $7 plus whatever number you rolled from a die. So you paid anywhere from 8 to 13 dollars. Once you gained admittance, a couple of the group sat waiting to write random names out for you on those "Hello my name is" tags. I looked down at what the dark haired woman had written for me: Mojo. Well I was certainly feeling a loss of mine without Edward.

The theater was really more of a black box, with an odd string hanging across the stage. To that was attached pieces of paper, numbered from 1 to 30. And each guest received a "menu" with the list of 30 different plays. They were going to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes? This should be interesting. And despite myself, I found that I was forgetting about my worries and focusing on reading what each play was titled. Apparently when they shouted "go" the audience shouted the number of the play they wanted to see. Whatever number was loudest was chosen.

"If they sell out for the night, the group orders pizza for everyone." Emmett declared.

"Really? Wow, that's really generous." My friends kind of snickered at me for whatever reason.

Before I could ask what was funny, the room darkened and the "show" began. Each play was written by a member of the Neo-futurists, ranging from the humorous to the deeply depressing. And they were all inspired by some aspect of their real life. From the random nipple rubbing man, to the annoying sombrero wearing "happy birthday" chanting group so reminiscent in restaurants, to the woman declaring her feelings for her lover, I was caught up in a whirlwind of emotions. I was laughing one play and crying the next. These people were really talented.

At the end, because the show had sold out, we all got pizza. Only, it was just one rather large pizza, cut in the tiniest of squares so that everyone could have a piece. So that was why everyone snickered at me. How was I supposed to know that's what they meant by order pizza?

"Did you enjoy that Bella?" Alice looked nervous as we drove back to campus.

"Yeah it was really great. I actually forgot about your douche brother and enjoyed the different plays."

"Good, because we like to go see Too Much Light a lot. Now you can join us!" Alice threw her tiny arm around me, pulling me towards her in the middle seat.

But now that my mind wasn't preoccupied with the performers on the stage, I went back to brooding Bella, stuck on thoughts of what could've happened to Edward and whether or not I would rip him a new one upon first sight.

I went to my room first, dropping off some of the layers of sweaters I had thrown on. Edward was not there, though I had not expected to see him. so I made my way to his apartment. Jasper wisely decided to stay with Alice. I think he was afraid of a fall out going on at his place. I wouldn't want to be there either, only I had no choice.

When I got to his place, I slipped the spare key Edward had given me into the lock and let myself in as quietly as possible. If, on the odd chance Edward was here doing something he shouldn't be (I shuddered at the thought) I did not want to announce my arrival. I didn't hear anything as I made my way down the hall to his room.

When I opened his door, I saw Edward at his desk, back to me, probably still studying.

"Edward fucking Cullen. You promised!" I was seething.

"Huh? Bella is that you?" but the red in my eyes disappeared when I heard his voice. It was groggy with sleep. He had fallen asleep? Like that? How? "What…what time is it? why are you not in the city?" He was adorable in his sleepy confusion. I wanted to go up to him and kiss him more awake, but I was still frustrated.

"Edward, it's past midnight. Of course I'm home. You never joined us!"

"What?!" Edward jumped out of his chair and turned, making his way toward me.

What little frustration I felt was replaced with sympathy. Edward's hair was matted down on one side from where his hand had probably been holding up his head for God knows how many hours of sleep. His eyes were blood shot and the circles under his eyes more pronounced. He looked like shit. The most beautiful shit I'd laid eyes on, but still shit.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I did that."

"What happened?" Tears began to well up in my eyes and the hurt and sadness I had felt all day came crashing down on me.

"I don't know, honestly. I must be more tired than I thought. I came home and was putting some stuff away at my desk and then..next thing I know you're walking through the door. I am so sorry love. Please forgive me." His eyes were drooping with the remorse and exhaustion. The green was there but didn't sparkle. It made my heart hurt. He was definitely over doing it with this test.

"On two conditions. You need to take me ice skating in the city. I felt really left out watching your brother and sister skate with their significant others." I wrapped my arms around him as a show of forgiveness and lifted up on tiptoes to reach his lips for a kiss.

"It's a date, love. What's the other condition?"

"You take it easy. You are beating yourself up and you're not even in school yet! Promise me you'll take more time out to just relax and have fun. You need it to balance out the stress."

"Bella, I can't really…"

"At least promise you'll try." I was begging him. he had to calm this down.

"Ok. I promise to try. But I'll need your help." He picked me up and carried me to the bed, not bothering with the fact that I was still dressed and had shoes on. "Can we start by just relaxing in bed together? I don't want to get out of it until late tomorrow."

"I think that can be arranged Mr. Cullen."


Alright. So there it is. I'm not so sure about this one. Honestly, I know you probably saw it coming, but these next chapters will be a bit different and trying since Edward is much more preoccupied with his time. You know what to do, tell me what you think. review it or chat me up at twilighted.
I am usually pretty good at responding to all your reviews. But in light of what is to come, I will be forgoing responding to most of them so I can get down more chapters. I didn't think you'd mind if that meant more even while I'm incapacitated, but I thought I'd give you the heads up still. i still read them all, so don't think i will be skipping out on that!Thanks again for all the love. You are the best