AN: There's more to tell. I can't end on this. We have a few more until the ending.

Enjoy!

Thanks.

Six years later

"Are you bringing a date?" Angela asked. She brushed her shaggy bangs out of her eyes.

The gangly woman sat in one of the student desks that comfortably sat a seven year-old, not a twenty-seven year old kindergarten teacher.

I liked Angela, don't get me wrong, but she acts like we're still in high school.

I looked up from grading papers this morning's spelling test. Little Harry's test was a jumble of letter that somewhat resembled actual words. I was going to have to call his mother. "I'm going by myself. It isn't like I can give Tom a call."

"I thought you were still friends with him?" Angela tapped the desk in the tune of The Itsy Bitsy Spider. "You can go and just hangout together."

"That's just what people say. It never actually works out like that. We had nothing in common as it is. There wasn't even a spark of chemistry to keep us going." I placed my pen down and rubbed my eyes. This day felt like it was taking forever. "It's a wedding. There is going to be drinking and regrets. He'll want one last romp and I might be depressed enough to do it."

It was Jessica and Mike's wedding. It was going to fun, I guess. A bunch of old friends getting together and going on about their adult lives. I just feel like I'm not there yet. This adult person dealing with marriage and babies. I barely can keep a boyfriend for more than four months. I flit about between relationships trying to find that elusive spark. There was only one spark that ever consumed me. I just needed to move on.

Moving on was hard. I found myself digging out the shoebox of memories the other day. There was the pile of postcards that Edward had been sending me ever since he left. The messages were never very long or personal. It was usually a picture of sightseeing destination and a written reminder for me to be happy. I found myself sniffing the paper trying to catch a whiff of him, but ended up just inhaling stale ink and card stock.

"Going alone won't be bad," I stated. "I'll just hit on the DJ and dance with Jessica's grandpa. He's single and ready to mingle, supposedly."

Angela snorted. "You can ask the new music teacher. He's starting next week. Jane told me that he's coming in for orientation today."

"Lori isn't coming back from maternity leave?" I asked

"Nope, she likes being home." Angela shrugged. "Ben wants me to stay home once we start having kids. Who knows what the future holds?"

"Ain't that the truth," I agreed, as I grabbed a stack of addition homework. There was a knock on the doorframe.

"Bella?" A masculine voice asked.

I would have known that boy . . . No. Man anywhere.

"Edward. Hi." I stood at my desk with shaking knees. I clutched the edge of my desk to stay steady.

God, he was still handsome. Even more so, if that was even possible. The shaggy, longish hair was gone. He had cut it shorter, but the top was still a mess of waves. His band tees were replaced with button downs and his dark jeans were missing the rips and drawings that he doodled with an ink pen during class. We were grown-ups.

Angela stumbled from her seat at the desk. She almost fell face first on the floor. Her near face plant did not slow her from getting to my ex. "You must be Mr. Cullen! I'm Angela Cheney, the kindergarten teacher. Are you lost?"

"Oh no. Just here to see Bella. We're old friends. I wanted to catch up," he explained with a smile. Adult Edward was friendly. He turned to smile at me. "I was hoping to talk for a bit."

That was my special smile. That smile was different from the one he gave to Angela.

I was being an idiot. I was acting like a teenager again.

"I'll let you talk. See you around," Angela said to him. She mouthed to me with her fingers up to her ear like a phone, "Call me!"

I found the courage to walk around my desk and leaned against it. "Music teacher?"

"Second grade?" He came in front of me and folded his arms against his chest. "The skirts are still great, Miss Swan."

I blushed.

Edward looked embarrassed. "God, I'm sorry. That was out of line. I was just nervous about coming to see you and—"

I squeezed his arm. "It's fine. A girl can never get enough flattery."

"You look good. Happy," he stated solemnly.

"Getting there," I said with a small smile. "You?"

"Getting there."

The bell rang and little voices filled the halls. It made me sad that we barely got to talk about anything.

"The horde is coming back."

"Bella, would you like to get some dinner tonight? I can pick you up. There's so much I want to tell you." He squeezed my hand. "There's so much I want to learn."

"Okay." I pulled my hand away reluctantly and jotted down my address. "I hope you don't mind a pink sticky note."

"I quite enjoy the pink sticky notes." He started to move away, but stopped abruptly. My tiny terrors were flooding in around him. "Bella?"

"Yes?"

"I would like this to be a date."

"Okay." The butterflies had returned. I placed a hand on my stomach hoping to still them, but it was no use.

Edward smiled and exited my room. Rachel, my teaching assistant, watched him as he left. "What was that?"

"Happiness, Rachel."

XXXXXX

Many things had changed in town since Edward moved away. We were sitting in my dad's restaurant. It was, as usual, crazy busy with the poor waitresses running around with trays loaded with Dad's fine recipes. He called his cuisine American Bistro, but really it's all the good stuff he's been feeding our family for years. He had hired some more chefs, but tonight he knew I was bringing Edward, so he was strapping on his apron. He promised not to poison my date.

The word date made my heart pound like a bass drum.

"I want to pay for our date, Bella. It's about time that I actually treated you the way you should be. I'll be paying tonight," he stated resolutely.

I swirled the wine and my glass and stared at the way the candlelight lit his face. The man was just getting better with age. "I like this wooing idea. Don't worry though, my dad is going to enjoy making you pay. I think he's having Carol push the high ticket entrees on purpose."

Edward groaned. "He still hates me. It's my own fault."

"Sullenly teenage boys trying to seduce their daughter will do that to a man. I think he'll like the changes in you. Bree's boyfriend makes him want to smash dishes," I explained.

Bree met a guy in college whose main career goal was to write tomes about philosophy. He spent countless evening with my parents telling them how their life was meaningless. True nirvana could be only obtained by sitting on top of trees and singing out Native American chants to the heavens. Bree found this idea to be amazing. My parents just wanted her to meet a nice, business major.

"At least I know your mom still thinks I'm a good guy." He waved to my smiling mom who waved back. She was behind the bar going through the receipts.

Who would have ever thought that her becoming the restaurant's business manager would have saved their marriage? I didn't, until it happened. They were so happy working together. One summer vacation from college, I was working as a waitress and caught them making out like teenagers in the pantry. I was old enough now to not find it disgusting.

"My mother finds you staggeringly handsome. She isn't to be trusted with her opinion of you," I teased.

Edward rested his head on his fist and stared at me. "I completely screwed things up originally. The fact that you're sitting here with me on a date is a miracle. Thank you for giving me a chance."

"Everyone deserves a second chance," I admitted. I took a sip of wine and took a deep breath. "I am curious. Why come back here now? Is this date just about making amends?"

My drink was taken out of my hands and Edward linked our fingers. "I'm back here, because no matter where I moved with Mom, this is still my home. When she died last year, I promised her that I would come see my dad and find you."

"I'm sorry about your mother, Edward. My mom heard about it from a mutual friend. I didn't have any way to contact you."

His mother died of cancer to the liver. He had been taking care of her the whole time. My heart ached for them both.

"That was my fault. I was hiding and licking my wounds," he explained and squeezed my hand. "Mom always teased me that all I could think about was you. After all these years, I talked about you constantly. You etched yourself on my psyche, girl. No one else came close. I would go on these lousy dates and complain to mom. She had been pushing this whole time for me to call you, but I wanted to be the perfect guy when I saw you again."

"Is that why you sent the postcards?" I asked, I stroked his knuckles.

He grinned. "I wanted to make sure that you didn't forget me. That if I ever had this opportunity I

would seize the chance to be with you."

"How did you know that I was single?" I accidentally nudged his foot under the table. He rubbed his foot up my leg. We were being flirty and playing footsie. I wanted to kiss him again.

"James." His foot went up and down.

"James has a big mouth." I had become friends with Victoria and James. They opened a music store together that gave lessons. It seemed they were also Edward's spies.

"He does," Edward agreed. He leaned in and took a strand of my hair. He twisted it around his fingers. "Your hair is brown again. I like it."

I rolled my eyes. "It's a very respectable color for working with elementary aged children."

"You're more beautiful than I remember, Bella Swan. I could stare at you endlessly." He rubbed his finger against my lips.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Cullen?" I asked with a smile.

He shook his head. "I would like to seduce you someday."

"I would like you to seduce me now," I countered.

"It's our first date, Bella. I don't want you to think I'm—"

I leaned closer to him. The flame of the candle tickling our chins. "Are you planning on running away afterwards or will you be sticking this out with me? Because I want you, Edward Cullen."

His mouth was almost touching mine. "You can't get rid of me. You're stuck with me now, beautiful."

My father's gruff voice interrupted us, "I brought dessert."

We sat up looking like naughty children.

"Dad, your famous cheesecake!" I said loudly. I felt like I got caught hooking up with Edward in a van when we were teenagers. "Thanks!"

"The meal was terrific, Mr. Swan," Edward said nervously.

"Uh huh." My dad didn't look impressed with Edward's praise.

"I won't screw things up this time, Sir. I will treat your daughter like gold." Edward stood to shake Dad's hand.

My dad took his hand and shook it. "I'm putting my trust in you, Edward. Don't prove me wrong."

"I won't, Mr. Swan." Edward looked back at me. "I was a fool, but I now know what's important."

"What's that then?" My dad asked.

"Bella."

XXXXXX

"Do you want to come in? I can make coffee or we can have another glass of wine?" We stood in front of my door.

"I could have some coffee," Edward answered. He took my face into his hands. "Let me do something first."

It wasn't our first kiss, but it felt different. There was a permanence to it that was burned onto my lips.

I whispered, "You shouldn't have done that."

"Why?"

"I'm going to take you inside and have sex with you," I explained. My body ached for his.

His hands wrapped around my waist. "I'll be making love to you, Bella. Every area of your skin will be worshipped by my mouth. My heart and yours will beat as one."

"How did you get so romantic?" I started unbuttoning his shirt.

"You."

I kissed his nose. "We should get inside before we scandalize the neighbors."

His hands traveled under my shirt as I unlocked the door. Edward kissed the back of my neck. My body was on fire.

We entered and I closed the door behind me. My back was flush against it, as Edward started kissing me. I was tempted to have him take me there, but I wanted to savor our first time. "The bedroom is upstairs."

I took his hand and lead him up the stairs. We were quiet as we entered the room and I made him sit on the bed. I stood before him, his knees touching my legs, and pulled my sweater over my head. The bra was unclasped and fell to the floor. Edward's hands went to my breasts and he stroked them gently with wide eyes. He whispered, "I've dreamt about this."

"Me too," I said, as I pulled my skirt down and it floated down to the floor. Edward took his hands put them into my underwear to squeeze my ass. His mouth began to suck on my nipples. I moaned into the top of his head, as my underwear were removed and his fingers entered me. His touch was electric and I felt his energy coursing through my veins.

I pulled away and pushed him flat on the bed. "You have on too many clothes."

My fingers unbuttoned his shirt and my mouth pressed open mouth kisses onto the skin that was revealed. I slowly unbuckled his belt and unsnapped his pants. He watched me with dark eyes as I pulled them off. I rubbed the front of his boxers. "There's no turning back, Edward."

"Please." His face turned rapturous as I took him in my mouth. I sucked and hummed as he grasped my hair in his fists. I had forgotten that Edward Cullen was a hair puller.

He was muttering words of adoration about me as I brought him to the brink. He gently made me stop. "Come here, gorgeous."

I kissed his tip and moved up his body. Edward stroked my bare skin. His lips covered my face in tiny pecks. "Can I make love to you?"

"You didn't need to ask." I sat on him and pushed his erection into me.

Our movements were slow and calculated to show maximum appreciation. When we weren't kissing, our eyes locked. Edward's fingers drawing pictures onto my hips, as I rode him.

With hooded eyes, he chanted, "My love. My love. My love."

I just reveled in his words as he pressed his fingers to my center. The movement brought me to the edge and I pulled his head up to kiss him hard. That was enough to make him release into me. I collapsed onto his chest.

Edward ran his fingers down my back. "Did you know that I've always loved you? From the very beginning? I did. I feel like I'm complete now. I've been waiting for you."

"I loved you. The whole time. I just think I was too young to know what that feeling was. We needed the time to see what we really meant to each other, I think." I ran my fingers through his hair and squealed when he flipped me over. I loved the feeling of him hovering over me.

"Bella?" His eyes were sparkling.

"Yeah."

"I heard you need a date to Jessica's wedding." He kissed me nose.

"You offering?" I kissed him back.

He grinned at me. "Offering? I already have the job. I'm your only date from here on out."

We began to kiss again and I knew this was what pure happiness felt like.