DISCLAIMER: The plot belongs to me but all things Twilight belong to the lovely Stephenie Meyer

Author's Note: You guys are amazing! There was over 230 reviews for that last chapter. That's more than any chapter in this story so far. Maybe we can beat it this time? I have faith in you guys! lol. Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it...

Thank you like always to my wonderful beta, crazylittlewriter, who always gets my chapters back to me before I can start hypervenhilating :P

The Word of the Day is Turnaround


"Honey, what's wrong?" he asked again.

"I'm just so stupid," I repeated, borderline hysterical. I just had to start a fight with Edward the night before his flight didn't I? What if he left and I never heard from him again? That's not the way I wanted to end things! Of course, I don't want to end things at all, but way to make a lasting memory, Bella!

"I mean, was I dropped on my head as a small child?" I asked, truly curious at this point. There had to be some explanation for my extra dose of retarded. "Did someone accidentally turn on the dryer when I was playing hide and seek in it? Not that I want to blame anyone, but have I officially spent too much time with Emmett?"

"Bella," he interrupted me before I could ask about him microwaving my formula or some other old wives tales I'd never believed, but was seriously starting to question at this moment.

"What happened?" he asked slower. "Did you hit the neighbors new cat again?"

I blew out a big breath.

"I pushed him away," I choked. Of course I had pushed him away. Because I was Bella Swan. It only makes sense for me to pick a fight with the love of my life instead of simply admitting I was scared of losing him. Why? Because...

"I'm so stupid!"

Charlie sighed loud enough for me to hear over the obnoxious sniffles coming from me.

"Bella, stop," he ordered firmly. "Now who did you push away?"

My gaze landed on the beloved shoes at the end of the couch and I sank onto the sofa, suddenly feeling exhausted, numb as the extent of what I had done hit me.

"He left his Converse," I whispered, disbelieving.

I'd already come to realize that Edward was probably spending the night with Rose and Emmett when he never came home. But he'd wanted to avoid seeing me so badly that he had abandoned his Converse. Those shoes were his Holy Grail, for lack of a better term. He must really hate me if he left without them.

"Edward?" Charlie guessed.

I let me head fall back into my hands as I lost the will to hold it up.

"The one and only." I nodded.

"What happened?"

I recounted the events of the day all the way up to him making suggestions for spending our last day together and me lashing out at him.

"I've been trying to push him away since the very beginning and I finally succeeded," I finished sadly.

There was a long silence and I wasn't sure if he was gathering his thoughts or if he had gone back to sleep. I was guessing it was the former because if he were asleep there'd be snoring. And when Charlie snored it sounded like a dying cat gurgling mouth wash, kind of this agonized bubbling sound.

"I'm not very good at talking about emotions," he finally started. "And I know that's something I passed on to you."

I nodded. Thanks a lot, Dad! Genetic contributions= curly brown hair, big doe eyes, a wicked sense of humor, and of course don't forget the emotionally inept gene. Check!

"But it's okay to show emotion some times, baby," he continued. "Especially when you love someone."

I bit my lip. Keeping my emotions bottled up never resulted in anything good. Edward hated when I kept my thoughts or feelings from him. But it was so hard for me to show any weakness. Some people are just like that I think, especially ones that have been left by a parent.

I knew I could talk to Edward about anything, but it was still scary and definitely not something I was used to. All I could do was try, but it was going to take a lot of practice. How was I supposed to practice talking to him about my feelings though if he never wanted to speak to me again?

"What am I going to do?" I sniffed.

Charlie sighed.

"It's a whole new ball game when you truly love someone," he decided and I couldn't help but catch the hint of nostalgia in his voice as if he was thinking of the one he loved. Renee had been his high school sweet heart. She had been his first and last love that I knew of. Even after abandoning him and their daughter she still held a piece of his heart. Sometimes I would wonder what a love like that would feel like, but now I knew. Even if I never saw Edward again, I would never stop loving him.

"All I can tell you is you'll do anything you can to make it work if he means something to you," he said. "Be more open, trust him, and be willing to compromise."

"How did you get so wise, old man?"

He chuckled.

"I have a daughter who is constantly getting herself into trouble," he pointed out. "She keeps me on my toes."

"Besides that," he continued briskly. "I read fortune cookies."

I grinned.

"Confucius says 'he who stands on toilet is high on pot'," I quoted.

He laughed.

"See what I mean?" he asked, sounding proud. "Pure genius!"

I smiled.

"Thank you," I sighed.

"You're welcome, Bells," he replied happily. "It's nice to know you still need your old man."

"Always," I promised. "Who else would let me call them at three in the morning?"

He guffawed.

"Oh, you'll pay for the call later," he threatened.

"Put it on my tab." I shrugged."Good night."

I dialed another familiar number as soon as I'd hung up with Charlie. When it went straight to voice mail I didn't let it deflate my hope. I hadn't figured he'd answer it the first time I called. Besides, he probably had it off because he was sleeping.

After talking to my dad, I knew what I needed to do. I needed to throw my pride to the side for once and just tell him flat out what I was feeling, with no snide remarks or sarcasm. It was going to be hard, but I figured if I just spat it out without thinking, I might get through it.

"Edward? It's Bella," I rolled my eyes at myself. "I would like to take a moment to officially announce that I'm an idiot. I'm so sorry about what I said. I know your job is important to you and you're good at what you do. If I was dying I'd call you. Well, maybe not now since you're probably pretty pissed at me and if I was dying I wouldn't be able to use the phone... but still. You save lives, that's important. One could say it is the most important job in the world. But I didn't want you to leave me, so I started a fight to avoid talking about it."

I took a deep breath, feeling light headed from all my ramblings without air.

"So I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry and I love you... Call me back please. I don't want you to leave without saying good bye. Besides, I'm holding your Converse as ransom. P.S. I apologize also for what I said about Chicago; although I am pretty sure it's the murder capital of the world."

I hung up with a deep sigh. I'd done all I could do until he called me back. Maybe it wasn't completely without sarcasm or snide comments and I had threatened his Converse which wasn't a good start, but all in all I thought it was pretty heartfelt. And if anyone would be able to acknowledge the amount of effort that call took, it would be Edward.


Stupid, scum sucking, make you fall in love and leave you, Edward!

He actually left. After hearing my heartfelt message, he had gotten on that plane and left me!

"He left," I said aloud.

"Bella," Rose sighed. "Get out of bed."

I shook my head stubbornly, pulling the blanket over my face. She couldn't make me!

"What if he's found someone else, Rose?"

She raised her eyebrows at me.

"Don't give me that look," I hissed. "Have you seen him? He could definitely find someone else if he wanted to."

She shrugged and I scowled at her. When I was back to my old self I was going to throw all her shoes in the river. It's a new type of fishing, Rose!

"He'll get sick of the long distance relationship and find some stupid blond bomb shell."

Rosalie rolled her eyes at me.

"It's been one day," she sighed.

I threw my hands up in the air, exasperated.

"I know," I exclaimed. "Can you believe he hasn't called yet?"

"Not even a day," she said slowly, eyeing me as if I was a caged animal. It didn't look like she trusted the bars on my cage to hold me back if I snapped at all.

"He left our house about three hours ago," she reminded me. "He probably hasn't even landed in Chicago yet."

I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest and flopping back onto the bed.

"What did he do for shoes?" I asked.

"He borrowed Emmett's," she informed me, trying to haul me out of the bed.

"Whatever," I grumbled. "I bet she won't understand his sense of humor."

Rose groaned, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Will you stop plotting the fall of a relationship that does not exist?"

I shrugged, pursing my lips. It didn't matter if it existed now or not. We had left on bad terms. He wasn't speaking to me and he hadn't even called me back. It would only be a matter of time before he found someone else who could actually communicate like a real human being.

I hated her.

"What if they have kids?" I asked suddenly, appalled.

Rosalie's head whipped in my direction and her mouth opened and closed for a second before she shook her head at me.

"Okay," she said, leveling me with a look. "Get out of this bed right now. You're starting to worry me."

I exhaled angrily, throwing the covers off and crawling out of bed.

"Happy?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips and staring her down. "I'm out of bed."

Her eyes glanced at my outfit and she wrinkled her nose distastefully.

"Are you still wearing your clothes from yesterday?" she asked in disbelief.

I looked down at my rumpled shirt and jeans from last night and shrugged.

"So?"

She sighed, shaking her head.

"Go get in the shower," she demanded. "I'll make you some breakfast and then we're going out because I'm afraid if I leave you here you'll have decided to become a hermit before dinner."

Becoming a hermit wouldn't be all that bad would it? I could have Rose, Alice, and the guys come visit me here. And I had the perfect job for it.

"Did he tell you he belittled my job?" I exclaimed, just remembering.

"He mentioned that." She nodded, holding out a dress to me.

I smacked it away, rummaging through my drawers for a pair of sweats and a baggy shirt.

"He feels bad about it," she told me. "I guess you both said things you didn't mean to last night."

I looked at her over my shoulder.

"Are you making excuses for him?" I narrowed my eyes at her.

She threw her hands over her head, huffing.

"One second you're talking about how wonderful he is and the next you're mad?"

I thought it through for a second. That seemed to be the prognoses.

"Yep." I nodded.

She rolled her eyes.

"You hate your job," she reminded me. "Edward wouldn't care one way or another what job you did, but he hates that you're doing something you hate. End of story."

I sniffed, pulling out some gray sweat pants.

I grinned, holding them out to show Rose and she grimaced.

"It's either this or nothing," I trilled.

She sat on the end of my bed as if she was too tired to deal with me anymore.

"Just go get in the shower and change," she said dryly. "We cannot afford you getting arrested today of all days."

"What does that mean?" I frowned. Why today of all days?

She shook her head.

"I'm making French toast or nothing," she trilled, copying me.

I smiled faintly despite myself.

"The cinnamon is above the stove," I hollered after her before sticking my head back around the corner.

"You're not going to tell anyone about this are you?" I asked hesitantly.

She rolled her eyes.

"No, Bella," She sighed. "I won't tell anyone that you actually have a heart."

Good.

My shower made me feel a little better although I still checked my phone obsessively. Once I even shut the water off and yelled for Rose to call it just to make sure it was still working. And then when it rang I hopped out to check and make sure it was Rose testing it and not Edward. It was Rose.

"Smells good," I told her, walking into the kitchen with hair still wet, but feeling a little less pitiful.

"Thanks." She smiled over her shoulder. Her eyes flickered to the window above the kitchen sink and a mischievous grin pulled at her lips.

"Bella, will you go check the mail?"

I frowned.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because I think you won the publishers clearing house," she rolled her eyes. "Just go."

I shrugged, walking to the door.

Before I could open it though, it swung open, slamming into my shin.

"Crap," I cursed, grabbing my leg and hoping around. "Who the hell do you think you are? Just barging into someone's house!"

"Oh crap," A familiar voice echoed. "Are you okay?"

I froze, looking towards the bronze haired god who was standing in the doorway, hand at his forehead which he seemed to have bumped on his side of the door.

"No blood, no foul," I muttered slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"I missed my flight," he admitted, shrugging.

I cast my eyes to the floor.

"Oh," I mumbled. "Did you want to call someone about another flight?"

"No," he said, a grin ghosting over his face. "I didn't really miss my flight so much as I just didn't get on the plane. I couldn't."

I blinked.

"Was there a terrorist attack?" I guessed.

He frowned.

"You're kidding, right," he checked.

"They wouldn't let you through security." I went on.

He rolled his eyes.

"Bella, I'm trying to-"

"Please tell me you didn't try to smell another passenger," I begged in feigned horror.

"Very funny, Bella."

"Oh my god," I exclaimed, unable to contain my smile now. "You are the terrerist."

He raised his eyebrows at me.

"That's right," he said dryly. "I am a terrorist, they checked at the airport and when I admitted my purpose they let me go free."

I chuckled.

"As long as you surrendered all bombs," I added.

He shook his head.

"Nope," he corrected, falling into our normal banter despite himself. "They let me keep them because I was so polite."

"It's always the quiet ones you have to worry about." I nodded.

He shook his head at me, grinning.

"Are you about through now?" he asked.

I nodded, knowing we had things to talk about but scared to get away from the playful banter that I was used to. That's why I knew I needed to start. I could do this, face to face. Not just spilling my guts to his answering machine.

"I'm sorry," I said, completely serious now. "As you've probably guessed by now I hate talking about my feelings. I should probably seek professional help for it; it's a sickness."

I took a deep breath.

"I was scared, Edward," I whispered and he furrowed his eyebrows. He started to take a step towards me but then seemed to decide against it.

"I was scared because I was so much more upset about you leaving than you were," I continued. "I'm not used to being the one that's attached. Everything changes when you're added into the equation though and it's really scary. But I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make this work."

"I'm all in if you are," I finished, holding my breath as I waited for his reaction.

He stood there staring at me for so long I had to stop holding my breath for fear I would pass out.

"I was upset at the prospect of leaving, Bella," he said slowly. "I just didn't want to make it worse or scare you by bringing up my worries about it."

He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing.

"Although that didn't work out so well."

We stood in silence for a moment before he did take that step towards me. It was only one step but it was something.

"I know what we decided but when they called my flight I just... I don't want that." He shook his head.

"What do you want?" I questioned, hoping he wasn't going to end it so there was less heart break when he left for real.

He ran his hands over his face and I realized the bags under his eyes as if he hadn't sleep at all since he'd stormed out of here yesterday afternoon.

"I had this whole speech planned out," he told me, exasperated. "I practiced it on the ride over too. I had to tip the cab driver extra for not throwing me out after my sixth run through. And now I can't remember a single word of it."

"Don't have an aneurism," I patted his arm, butterflies swarming my stomach, the traitors. "Just spit it out."

"I'm not leaving you, B," he exhaled.

My eyes widened.

"But your jo-"

He put a finger to my lips.

"We could make a long distance relationship work," he decided. "But it would suck and I don't want to."

I blinked.

"So what are we going to-"

He shook his head, amused.

"My turn to talk, db," he chuckled.

I huffed.

"But-"

"No."

"But-"

"No," he covered my entire mouth with the palm of his hand, silencing me yet again.

"You see," he chuckled. "You've got something to say about everything, and you start fights to avoid talking about your feelings, and you insult my home town while apologizing for insulting my job. You have to make pro/con lists before you'll even agree to dinner!"

I cringed. Well when put that way I didn't exactly sound like a fully functional human being.

"You drive me crazy!" he exclaimed, removing his hand from my mouth to run it through his hair, pacing back and forth in front of me.

"But you know your mind and you stand up for what you believe in," he sighed, almost talking to himself now. "You gave up your dream to move back home when your dad got shot. You never back down from a challenge and you keep me in line. You also do this thing when you're sleeping where you'll wrinkle your nose and sigh just a little. Sometimes you even whisper my name." He grinned, his eyes finding mine once more.

I blushed bright red. There had to be something I could do about that - the blushing and the sleep talking. I wonder if shock therapy really worked.

Edward chuckled, brushing his fingers over the pink that tinted my cheeks.

"So on one hand you drive me insane." He smirked. "And on the other hand... you still drive me insane. You're the most confusing woman I've ever met but I love you more than I ever thought possible."

He smiled fondly at me, kissing my forehead.

"I don't want to leave you," he finished. "Ever. I want to stay here where everything is insane but definitely never boring with the woman who drives me insane."

He ran his fingers through my wet hair, placing a gentle kiss to my lips before taking a small step back. He grabbed my left hand and sank onto his knee.

My heart stuttered before breaking into a wild rhythm as he pulled the ring I had neglected to remove after our prank off of my finger. He held it to me with a bashful grin.

"I want to marry you," he finished. He shook his head at himself, chuckling.

"For real this time."


Author's Note: Who was expecting that? Lol. Favorite line/scene? Don't forget to ask for a preview in your review if you want one. Much love!