A/N: Hello again friends! I meant to post this earlier in the week, but it's been pretty busy around here. Only two chapters left after this one. I'm sad to see the little story go. So far, chapter 9 is beta'd, but I'm still working on 10. I don't think I need an epilogue for this one either, so I'm not planning it right now. My plan is to have everything done by Christmas, but we'll see how it goes. I'm stuck a little on 10 at the moment.

Anyway, read on and enjoy!

Chapter 8 – EPOV

I almost felt bad for Bella spending the day with my crazy sister. But it was her choice, and honestly it made me really happy that they were spending time together. I knew Alice didn't have any problems with the cheating thing, and Bella needed someone in her life in Seattle that wasn't me. Not that I would have any problem spending every spare second with her; I just knew that she should have others to hang out with also.

After they left, I cleaned up the apartment a little; just straightening, really. There wasn't much to clean. Bella sort of cleaned as she went, and nothing ever seemed out of place. I wanted to ask, but if it had to do with Jake and his treatment of her, I probably didn't want to know.

But by mid-morning I was out of things to do. So, I called Emmett to see if he was free. Unfortunately, he was on his way to a game so he could only talk for a short while.

"How is that ball of fire, Edward?" Emmett asked. I could tell he was driving when he answered.

"Where are you, man? And Bella's great – wonderful, actually."

"I'm heading to a game. Rosie and I are heading out to the stadium." Emmett taught little league baseball on the side, having such a love for the game. "I only have a few minutes, man. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. I was going to see if you were free today."

"Sorry, Edward. Can't let down my kids."

"I know, it's cool, Em. Tell Rosie high for me ok?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Listen, Ed, Rosie wants to invite you over for dinner tonight. That cool?"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea yet, Em. Let her down easy, though, ok? I promise that once Bella and I can be seen out together we will come. Ok?" I had completely forgotten about Rose. Damn. I made a mental note to talk to Bella about Rose when she got home.

"Sure, Ed. Will do. Hey, have a good day, brother."

"Thanks, Em."

Hanging up, I glanced around wondering what to do next. My eyes focused on our balcony and I realized there was something that Bella and I had forgotten to shop for: patio furniture. I could go on my own, but I knew that Bella was still really worried about my Dad, so I decided to give him a call and see if wanted to join me. At first, I thought he sounded reluctant, but he agreed. We decided to meet for lunch at a restaurant near the store I wanted to go to.

Grabbing Bella's extra car key, I shoved my shoes on and jogged out to her SUV. Thankfully, she had thought ahead enough to get the key back from Jake before moving. There was no way I could get what I needed to fit in my car.

When I pulled up in front of the restaurant, Dad was standing outside, but didn't immediately look at me. He was probably expecting my car. I hopped out and walked over to him.

"Hey, Dad." I leaned in and hugged him quickly. "Thanks for meeting me."

"Hello, Edward. I didn't see you pull in." He hugged me back; that was a good sign.

"I took Bella's SUV. Easier to put patio furniture in her car than mine."

Dad looked uncomfortable for a minute, but then smiled. "That's good. I was trying to figure out how we would put furniture in your car. Come on, let's eat."

We walked in the restaurant and waited for the hostess to seat us. There was an uncomfortable silence that I couldn't seem to break. I had no idea how to start a conversation with my own father about my girlfriend. He had been so angry with me the first time I told him about her.

Once we were sitting at our table, looking over our menus, I decided to give it a shot. "So, Dad. What did you think of Bella?"

He lowered his menu; his face passive. "She was very nice, Edward."

I leaned over the table a little. "I love her, Dad. She's not going anywhere. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

His face didn't change, but he kept his eyes on mine. "I understand that's how you feel now, but what happens in a few months when the divorces are final? What if she finds someone else that she wants more than you? Then you have an apartment in the city by yourself, you've ruined your marriage and are all alone."

I regarded him silently for a moment. I knew that wasn't a possibility that would happen, but it was so hard to explain how Bella and I felt for each other. I had to bring out the big guns in order to reach him.

"Do you know how much of my inheritance Kate has spent over the years, Dad?" I didn't give him long to think before continuing. "About half of what Grandpa left me."

His eyes got really wide. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, very. First, when I refused to buy her a sports car she tried to demolish the apartment by throwing things. Then, when she wants to hit a sale, she always begs for me to 'clear her card' so she can afford to buy all these things she doesn't need. She gets her hair done every two or three weeks, nails weekly, waxing everything, owns about a hundred pair of shoes." I kept my eyes steady. "I could go on, Dad, but you get the picture, right?"

He nodded but didn't say anything. I'm not sure why I kept going, but I did. I needed him to understand.

"Do you know where Bella is right now? Shopping with Alice. Do you know the last time Kate made an effort with Alice or Emmett? Never." I leaned forward again. "Last night when we got home from your house all Bella could think of was how you hadn't liked her. She was trying to figure out a way to fix it because she doesn't want me to be hurt by any hard feelings that you have. She wasn't thinking of herself, Dad, she was thinking of what it would do to me."

He still didn't say anything, but was saved by the waiter coming up to take our order. Once he left, Dad looked at me and smiled. "She does seem to care for you a good deal. You are lucky, Edward. I suppose not everyone is like her."

"She loves me. With everything that she has gone through with her emotionally and physically abusive husband, the heart ache in dealing with everything in her life, she loves me. I am the luckiest man in the world that she loves me."

He leaned back in his chair. "What do you want from me on this? I can't change how I feel about the cheating."

"I'm not asking you to, Dad. I just want you to understand the situation fully. No, I shouldn't have cheated on Kate. I should have just left her and gotten away from the situation. But Alice will tell you for sure that I never realized exactly what my life was missing until I met Bella. I was blinded by our friendship for years and I never even considered leaving her, even while watching everything I loved being thrown out of my house because it didn't fit her décor. I was blind when she didn't spend time with my family, or want to do things that I cared about.

"Dad, Bella moved two states away from her friends; farther away from her family in Arizona to be with me. Do you know why?" He shook his head. "Because she didn't want me to have to leave my family."

At that, I stopped talking and let him absorb everything I had said. I knew that I had been harsh about Kate, and that troubled me to a degree. But he really needed to understand. I needed him to understand.

Once our food came, we lapsed into silence and I didn't try to break it this time. I wanted to see what he would say once he had thought about all of the information I had given him. It wasn't until we were both almost done that he said something.

"I'm sorry, Edward. I had no idea."

"I know, Dad. Part of the problem is that I had no idea either."

"And Bella isn't like Kate at all?"

"You mean, she's not asking for money all the time?" Dad nodded. "I paid for one full year of the apartment that we are in, just as a surprise for her, so she wouldn't have to worry about money for a while. Paying for a divorce is expensive, trust me, and I wanted to do something nice for her. She was pretty angry with me when she found out. She told me that we were partners, and that I couldn't spend that kind of money on her."

Finally, Dad smiled. "She's a smart woman, son."

When we were done eating, we walked over to the furniture store and wandered around the store. I selected a loveseat and two side tables, determining that we really didn't have much more room than that on our balcony. It was long, almost the length of the living room and kitchen combined, but it was narrow. That would do for now; unless Bella had something else she wanted.

Dad walked me out to the SUV, helping with the furniture. He hugged me, thanking me for lunch – even though he had paid – and then left. Dad wasn't for long speeches or anything like that. I was just happy he had listened to me and that he really heard what I needed him to. I hoped it would help in the long run.

Dad had helped me load the furniture into the SUV, but it wasn't until I got to the apartment that I realized it would be fairly hard for me to carry it up three flights of stairs. I walked into the lobby, thankful that the property manager was on site. She said that a maintenance guy would be out to help me, and I thanked her profusely. I think she just liked me because I had paid a year up front. Regardless, I got help.

Once it was all upstairs, I sat down and started to get it all built and ready for when Bella came home. It took surprisingly little time, so I decided to get dinner going. I had no idea how long they would be out, but I assumed that Alice would have her home before dinner. I knew that Bella loved Italian, so I decided on lasagna. Unfortunately, I had never made it before and I didn't have a cookbook. So, I reached for my phone.

"Hello, Edward! I was so happy that you two were able to come over last night. Bella is just lovely, dear," my mother said, answering the phone in a rush of words. I had a feeling that Dad hasn't said anything about our conversation, which was fine. I could tell Mom more later.

"Hi, Mom. Listen, I need some help. I want to make lasagna for Bella tonight and I can't find a cookbook."

"You have a phone, right? You know you can google recipes?" She laughed at me, and I honestly felt stupid for a moment. "I'm just teasing you, Edward. I can help you if you want."

"Sorry, Mom, I just wanted to make something special for her. I honestly forgot I could look up the recipe." I sat down on the couch feeling like a complete moron. "I'm sorry I bothered you."

"No bother, honey. I think it's sweet that you want to do something special for Bella."

"I gotta run to the store, Mom, so I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Ok, love you sweetie!"

I looked up a recipe on lasagna and made a list of things I needed to get. Fortunately, I just needed a few things. I ran to my car and raced to the grocery store. I scanned through the aisles, getting everything on the list, including a couple of bottles of wine for later.

The recipe was fairly easy, and I was able to get everything put together. I slid the lasagna into the oven. Bella still wasn't home, so I decided to play my piano for a while. Closing my eyes, I let the music flow around me, getting lost in the sound. I broke out of my trance when Bella and Alice got home, carrying half the damn mall with them. It made me laugh, thinking that anything less than would have been against everything I knew of my sister.

Being with Bella, living with her as I was, just made me happy. And, honestly, I was hard almost all the time. The fact was that she was just so beautiful to me – inside and out. Everything about her made me happy and turned me on. When I took her against the wall, it felt like my blood was boiling under my skin. I just wanted her so much all the time.

After making her a drink – or, really, just grabbing her a beer – we went back outside. The night was chilly, so we snuggled up close to each other.

"I love you, Bella," I said, kissing her head. She was leaning against me and my arms were around her, holding her tight.

"I love you, too, Edward. I never imagined that my life would be like this."

"It's just happiness all the time, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I keep thinking something bad will happen, but..." she shifted so she was facing me, kissing me softly. "Then you jump in the shower, or fuck me against a wall and I remember that this is just how life is for me right now."

I blushed a little. "I am sorry about that. I should have at least gotten you to the bed."

She laughed, throwing her head back a little. "Feel free to fuck me against the wall whenever you want."

My arms tightened around her. "Oh, you like it rough, do you?" I kissed her again, bringing my tongue in her mouth. "I'll have to remember that."

"Please do. But if you forget, I'll remind you." She smirked at me, kissing me lightly again. Shifting, she turned around again, pressing her back against me. "I just love this view. Great job on the apartment."

"Oh, sure, now you love it." I laughed, and she joined me.

"You did good, ok? And I'm sorry I got upset about it."

"No, you were right. I should have talked to you about it first." I sighed. "I just wanted this with you so damn bad I didn't think."

"I know, and that's ok, really. I love this place. It's absolutely perfect."

"Does that mean I'm not in trouble any longer?" She laughed again.

"You never were, silly man. I love you too much."

"Hmm," I hummed, kissing her head again. "I wonder what else I could get away with?"

"Oh, no. Don't you start down that path!"

I shifted my hands, tickling her sides. She shrieked in laughter, twisting while trying to get away from my hands.

"No, Edward! Stop!" she laughed, grabbing my hands. She turned again, shifting toward the other side of the loveseat. I leaned toward her, smirking, continuing to tickle her. Her laugh continued as she wiggled out of my grasp.

She stood up, running inside; I followed, continuing to tickle her until she ducked in the kitchen. "Edward, the door! You need to lock the door before we go to bed."

I paused, still smiling. "I guess I'll stop then. But now that I know I can't get in trouble..." I let the sentence hang as I closed up the apartment. I made sure all the doors were locked before making my way into the bedroom. Bella was brushing her teeth in the bathroom, so I joined her. She smiled at me in the mirror as I started to brush my own teeth. She finished before me and started to wash her face. When I was done, I started walking to the bed, taking off all my clothes.

I was about to sit on the bed, when I realized that Bella was still in the bathroom. I could definitely use that. I hurried back into the bathroom just as Bella was putting lotion or something on her face. My arms circled around her, and I brought my lips to her neck. One hand slipped under her shirt, caressing her bare breast, while the other hand went lower, dipping into her sweats. Bella's eyes met mine in the mirror, and they were on fire. Her mouth opened slightly as my finger started circling her clit. Her head fell back slightly, resting on my chest.

"Oh god..." Her breath was coming out in bursts.

My fingers continued to circle her clit, while my other hand caressed her breast, bringing her nipple to a peak. I fused my lips to her neck, licking and sucking from her shoulder to her ear, nibbling on her ear lobe. I felt her getting wetter with every touch, and I was starting to push against her butt in order to relieve the pressure on my straining dick.

I slid down her sweats so that I could get easier access to her, she kicked out of them still leaning against me. I continued to move my fingers as her breathing got more ragged. Too soon for my liking, she came around me, her legs almost collapsing underneath her. I picked her up and carried her to the bed, setting her down and settling between her legs.

"What brought that on?" she asked, her fingers lightly scratching the back of my neck while her legs wound around me.

I smirked at her, lining myself up and sliding in her very slowly. "I wanted you to see what I see when you come. How amazing you look."

She moaned and her fingers tightened on my neck. "You are insatiable, Edward. We just had sex a couple hours ago."

I brought my mouth to hers, before kissing her slowly down her neck. I wasn't sure what fascinated me so much with her neck, but when I was inside her, I loved to have my lips or tongue there. "I will always want you this way. It's like being in heaven while I'm inside you."

"God, Edward," she moaned, her eyes closing as she arched into me. "Faster, please."

"Not this time, love. I want to enjoy you for a while. I don't want to leave heaven yet." I brought my lips back to hers as I continued my slow pace.

I don't know how long I was inside her, but honestly it would never feel long enough. I continued to go slow, almost inching my way in and out of her, until finally her need and mine got too great. Then I sped up, my lips fused to her neck, and I felt her tightening around me.

"Come for me, baby. Let me hear you," I whispered into her neck.

Her moaning got louder, and when I felt her clench around me, she screamed. And it was my favorite sound in the whole world.

A/N: I know this was a short one, but I really think the interaction with him and his Dad was needed. It helps in the long run, you know?

Anyway, as I said, only two chapters left. Will post again soon!

Don't forget to check out my vamp fic, Twist of Fate! It's winding down also, and should be finishing in the next couple weeks (2 chapters and an epilogue are left).

Thanks to zombified419, my soul sister! I couldn't do this story without you, my friend!