Warning: This chapter will take on a bit of more serious tone. Not to worry, no tissue boxes are needed and there is still humor weaved in here and there ;D

See you at the bottom!

*~TT&ABOFD~*

With Emily finally asleep, I started to make my way down the stairs, back to the kitchen where Bella was waiting.

My original plan for tonight was to talk about 'us' with her, hopefully ending the night by sinking myself into her.

But, as always, I'd fucked that up; there was no way my muscles were going to allow me that kind of energy tonight. I was spent.

When I finally walked into the kitchen, Bella was standing at the sink, rinsing off a plate with her back to me. I slowly, but cautiously approached her, sliding my arms around her waist and resting my chin on her shoulder.

"Shit!" she hissed, jumping as her head whipped around and knocked the fuck out of mine.

"Fucking dammit," I groaned, holding my head in my hands.

"Crap, Edward, I'm sorry," she rushed out, then proceeded to slap my arm a second later. "You jackass! You can't just sneak up on someone like that! Especially at night!"

"Excuse the fuck out of me for trying to hug my girl," I ground out, not believing the way this was starting out.

Just my fucking luck.

I let my eyes meet hers, only to see her now looking at me in sympathy.

After a small sigh, she stretched her arms out to me and after arching a brow, I eased into them. "You aren't going to clock me this time, are you?" I mumbled, burying my face in her hair and pulling her close.

"A week ago? Yeah. But after these past couple of days, no. Thank you for taking care of my baby girl," she whispered into my ear.

I pulled back to look at her in skepticism. "Why are you thanking me? You saved my ass from having to face Aro again. If anything, I should be thanking you."

"No, Tink, I mean it. You really took care of her. The light in her eyes and the smile on her face in that picture you sent said it all. Don't get me wrong, I knew you were good with her and I've seen it several times, but that? I never knew you had that in you."

"Shit, you're making me sound like a…"

"Will you shut up for five seconds and fucking kiss me already?" she griped, stomping on my foot at the same time.

She'd most likely just saved me from putting my fucking foot in my mouth again.

And she didn't have to ask me twice.

I briefly narrowed my eyes at her and shook my head, grinning all the while, before bringing my mouth to hers.

Fuck, I'd missed her; missed this. Her tongue tentatively pressed against my bottom lip and I happily granted her fucking entrance.

The kiss quickly turned passionate, and within seconds, her hands were tugging at my hair and her leg was hitching on my hip to wrap around my waist.

I had to stop it, no matter how badly my cock fucking begged me not to.

With a firm grip on her hip, I gently pushed her back, putting some space between us as I broke the kiss, us both breathing heavily.

"What…?" she asked, confusion and rejection both shining in her eyes.

"Believe me, I don't want to stop, but there's no way I can pull off fucking you tonight."

"And just why the hell not?" she demanded.

"Everything in," I began then thought of a better route. "You've been with her to Jump Galaxy, right?"

"Oh my God," she laughed, bringing her hand to her mouth. "First, you let her put make-up on you, then you baked fucking cupcakes, and now you're telling me that you, Edward fucking Cullen, let her talk you into going to Jump Galaxy?"

"Hey, I'll have you know that she didn't talk me into anything. I wanted to take her mind off of you being gone, and I wanted her to have some fun. And if I'm being totally honest, I hoped she'd go down easy tonight so you and I could spend quality time together, but as always, my plan backfired. I not only dealt with a room full of hungry housewives feasting their eyes on me, but I also wore out every fucking muscle in my body going through that blasted obstacle course. I suspect that I even broke a wing."

"So what? Does that mean if we were to attempt anything, and I happened to touch your wings, that you'd be going off half-cocked?" she quipped, trying desperately to hold in a laugh but failing miserably.

"Funny. That's real funny, Swan. Anyway, I brought her for ice cream after, which was why she was still up when you got home. So, as disappointing as I'm sure it is to you, I'm afraid that me and my cock are out of order for the night."

She chuckled for a second and then reached out a hand to trail a finger down the seam of my button down shirt, her face solemn.

Shit, this wasn't good. She was going emo on me. I instantly began running over everything I'd said, both in my head and outloud, given that I had an unbelievable talent for fucking things up and saying the wrong shit.

"Edward, can I ask you a question?"

"Depends. Am I in trouble?" I asked unsuredly, gulping.

When had I become such goddamn pussy?!

"What is all of this about?" she questioned, her hand motioning between the two of us. "Are you with me just for the sex? Because I'm having trouble figuring out how you went from calling me the biggest bitch in the world on a daily basis to being sweet like you have been the past few days."

Okay, so apparently we were going to have the talk now. Not that I was complaining because I'd planned to do this myself anyway, but the question she'd just asked stung. I hadn't seen it coming and I sure as hell didn't know that this was the shit going through her mind when we were together.

But now that she'd said it, I could see why she'd think that because the truth was, I really had been awful to her in the past.

"Fuck," I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. "In case you didn't notice, you just propositioned me for sex and I turned it down. Granted, that was the first time I have, but if this was just about sex to me, Bella, would I have said no?"

"So you think that I'm only in it for sex?" she shot back, brows furrowed.

"No, I didn't say that. Listen, I'll be as forward as I can, but you know me; there's a high possibility that my mouth will run away with me and I'll piss you off."

"Tell me something I don't know," she joked.

"I know that I've been fucking awful to you in the past, and I have no real of explaining my actions in a manner that you'd understand, just know I feel really fucking guilty, okay? But here's the deal, Swan: I wanted you, wanted a real fucking chance with you six, almost seven, years ago when you first found out you were pregnant with Sweet Pea. That desire never went away. I still want that chance with you, and I'm willing to do whatever I have to to prove to you that I'm serious. I'm a colossal fuck-up whose mouth knows no bounds, I'm crude, I'm an asshole, and I've even pussied out and jacked off another m…"

I didn't get to finish. My verbal diarrhea was swallowed by Bella's mouth hungrily pressed against my own, her hands fisted in my shirt.

When she pulled away after suckling on my bottom lip, she looked up at me with misty eyes, and a big smile on her face.

"You really need to learn when to shut up," she murmured, moving a hand from my hair to scratch lightly at my jaw. "Are you sure that you can handle what being with me entails?"

"You just lost me," I told her flatly, confused as ever.

"Edward, I'm a single mother with a six year old daughter. A little girl who's never known what's its like to have a father. I don't want to get into something serious with you, and then have you bolt as soon as you realize that this, we weren't what you wanted. I couldn't take the heartbreak it would cause to her."

"Aren't we jumping the gun a bit?" I asked her, my voice nearly inaudible.

"I'm not," she breathed. "I'm in this as far as I can go."

"What exactly does that mean? You're speaking in riddles, Bella, and I'm not sure what you're telling me or what it is you want me to say."

"I think that if you really concentrate, you'll see what I'm trying to…"

Then, it hit me.

As I looked at her, the emotion was right there in her eyes, staring me straight in the fucking face. I could feel it in the way she was stroking my jaw, in the way she'd kissed me moments ago.

I felt my pulse speed up as a lump formed in my throat. I was fucking panicking and there was shit I could do to stop it.

She loves me.

One thing was for sure, I needed to think and do it fast because if I bolted from this room or waited too long, chances were, I was going to fuck this up with her before it ever really began.

Okay, so we didn't get to the beginning of her swearing in ceremony. E/B talking just got away with me.

What is he going to do now? How will he handle Bella's psuedo confession?

The next chapter will post tomorrow with his response.

If we don't get to the swearing in on the next one, it will definitely be Chapter 51.

Wow, hard to believe that it's already reached that number as I'd originally intended for this to only be 8-15 chapters long. LOL!

As always, leave some love 3

T