I do not own Twilight.

Just a quick throwback to happier days (I guess?). I just wanted a quick chapter before this was over to show not everything in their last year together was terrible. This is pre-break up, post-first year of college.

Summer

It's one of those kinds of days where nothing bad happens, but nothing exceptionally good happens, either.

I haven't fought with my mother all day, Charlie hasn't been hovering around trying to find out what's going on with the teenagers through the summer, Alice hasn't been sending me dirty looks—actually, I haven't seen her at all, Edward and I have been getting along fine, and Edward's father hasn't been completely chaotic.

It's just a day, but it's a good day. The kind where there's no expectation, so anything that happens is okay. Good, even.

It's the middle of July, our first summer after freshman year of college, and the air is slick with humidity. The rope of the hammock Edward set up between the two trees in his front yard cuts into my skin, but I don't really care about that right now. I'm too tranquil, too close to sleep.

I can feel Edward's fingers thrumming past my ankle bone and back up to my calf, working the muscle gently. He feels like a cool breeze and if it wasn't for the dead air, I would fall asleep. His fingers creep up and back down, over and over. It's calming.

I open my eyes and look across the hammock at him, but he's looking out over the yard towards the busying street. I can hear children laughing and shouting, playing in sprinklers; soft music coming from cars; bicycles, motorcycles, rollerblades, but I don't look over at any of that.

I watch him instead, studying the sharp angle to his jaw, the straight line of his nose, the tanned skin of his chest, abdomen, and arms, more muscular now with the work in his dad's shop over the summer. His hair is getting long again, curling just over his ears and hanging haphazardly in his eyes.

And his eyes.

They shift to me when he feels my gaze on him. The emerald is luminescent in the setting sun, golden almost in technicolor hues. He smiles and his face is even more perfect, more symmetrical if that's possible. The Cullens have some good genes.

He squeezes my foot. "What are you thinking about?"

I laugh and stretch my arms over my head, tangling my fingers into the rope. The hammock sways gently. I don't think he'd like the rundown of exactly how beautiful he is, so I shrug and close my eyes again, a smile playing at my lips. "Why don't you take a guess?"

I think he tries to rearrange himself to move closer to me because the hammock sways out of balance. My eyes snap open as it twists and we both fall out, laughing as we land on the grass below.

"Shit," he laughs, but stays on his back in the grass, one hand resting across his stomach. He peers over at me with one eye, the sun blinding, and tugs at my hair. It's getting long too. "Wanna get some food?"

We've been lying out for hours it feels like and at the mere mention of food, my stomach growls. His smile widens and he stands up. I stay where I am. "You have to help me up," I say. "My bones are like jelly."

He laughs and reaches down to grab my arm. He pulls me upright effortlessly and holds me against him. He's already hard. It reminds me just how easy it was for him to pull down the strapless sun dress that I'm wearing. I push against his chest with a smirk and press myself off of him.

"Food first," I tease and start quickly towards his car, laughing as he jogs after me.

I know we're heading to the small seafood stand down by the dock because it's the only place that is close by and will serve anyone in any sort of clothing. He drives with his left and holds my hand with his right, pressing a kiss to my knuckles, glancing out over the water side every once in a while.

I smile to myself, watching him and thinking how, despite everything we've been through, I'm lucky to have him.