Assumptions Chapter 16

Communicating in Secret Places

EPOV:

I handed Bella the phone and then wandered through the kitchen looking for food while she called Mrs. Cope. I insisted that she call her right away and cancel the listing. She told me that she would still need to return to Phoenix tomorrow. She had to pack her apartment and place that up for sale. I didn't want to see her go, even for a short time, but I knew that she had to. Besides, the sooner she went and took care of everything the sooner she would be able to come back to me.

There was absolutely no food in the house and I was starving. As soon as she was off the phone I told her to go change so we could go get something at the diner. As soon as she was dressed we drove to my place real quick so that I could put on some actual clothes. I hadn't realized that I had run all the way over here in my pajamas until she pointed it out to me. If I was lucky then no one had seen me last night. I ran upstairs to my apartment to get dressed while she walked down the street to the diner to get us a table.

While I was getting dressed I decided that I wanted to show her my meadow. I wanted her to spend the day with me there. I was so glad that today was Sunday and the store was closed all day. I got so excited at the prospect of spending the whole day with Bella that I nearly forgot to lock the door as I ran out of my apartment. I got down the stairs and realized that I forgot my wallet so I had to go back up after that. By the time that I made it to the diner Bella was enjoying a cup of coffee and Mike and Angela were sitting with her.

I slipped into the booth next to Bella and poured myself a cup of coffee, "How have you been feeling, Ang?"

"Fat. Good, but fat."

"You're not fat, you're beautiful," Mike told her, looking her straight in the eye. He could be a really great guy when he wanted to be. I started to feel guilty for not spending time with them lately. I had gotten so wrapped up in Bella and all the drama surrounding Charlie's death that I had neglected my friends.

I looked over to Bella who was looking over the menu. I was here so often that I knew the menu by heart. I knew what was good and what you should avoid at all costs. The waitress came over and the four of us placed our orders and I turned my attention back to my friends, "So what has been going on with you two? You get the nursery done yet?"

"Not yet but I'm close to being done with it," Mike said with a sigh.

"You've been really busy. Mom and Dad said that they'd help."

"I want to do it," he said to her before turning back to me, "I got a job, kind of. My parents took me back at the wilderness store."

"But they said they wouldn't do that unless you started….going….to….Oh my God! You're back in AA?"

"Yeah, it's still new but I'm really trying. I haven't had a drink since the night that I hit Bella. I just keep thinking that I could have killed her. She's someone's daughter. Someone's friend. Maybe girlfriend, I don't really know about that, but I just keep thinking that if I had killed her I'd be no better than Jacob Black. I'd have been a murderer. I just keep thinking about Angela. I love her and I don't want to hurt her anymore. I'm also in therapy. Angela keeps telling me that I have to start believing that Jessica's death is not my fault. I have to let go of the guilt."

Angela was right. We'd all told Mike that for years. I got why he felt guilty but I was never able to understand why he couldn't let go of it after so many years. I was thrilled that he was finally trying to put it all behind them. It had been too many years of holding onto the pain.

After we finished our food, I grabbed the bill and took off for the register before any of them could stop me. We said our goodbyes to Angela and Mike as they headed off toward their home. I grabbed Bella's hand and led her back toward my place where her truck was parked.

"Do you trust me?"

"Uh…maybe?"

"Maybe?" I asked, backing her into the side of the truck.

"Yeah, maybe. You have to prove that I can trust you."

"Ok. Fair enough. Do you trust me enough to get into that truck with me and let me take you somewhere with telling you where I am taking you?"

"Oh sure, I trust you enough for that. I trust you not to kill me or anything, I just don't trust you with my wine. I'm still convinced you drank it all while I was sleeping."

I started laughing as I held her door open for her and then walked around to get into the driver's seat. It didn't take long to drive to where the trail to the meadow started. It was actually navigating the trail that was going to take some time.

We chatted idly as I drove to the highway. It was a fifteen minute drive from there to where I would pull off the road and park in what was no more than a clearing in the woods. Bella didn't look nervous at all until I turned off the engine and started to get out of the truck, and then she looked absolutely terrified. I couldn't help but smile at the expression on her face, "Relax! Like you said, it's not like I'm a serial killer or anything."

"Yeah, well I'd rather face a serial killer than hike through the jungle. I'm likely to suffer less pain before I die with the serial killer." Now she had me outright laughing at her.

"I promise to keep you safe and from feeling any pain whatsoever. You are going to love where we are going. I promise you that too."

"I'm holding you to that."

BPOV:

I had to admit that he was right. This meadow was beautiful. "How did you find this place?"

"I've always loved the outdoors and exploring and I stumbled upon it one day."

"Well, it's amazing. Do you come here a lot?"

"When I need to be alone or just need some peace."

"So you don't bring your family here often?"

"They don't know about this place. They know I disappear into the woods but I've never wanted to share this place with them."

"Wow. I'm honored then." I walked away from him and started exploring the meadow. I followed the sound of the running water and found a creek. "Do you ever bring your suit and go swimming in there?" I asked as he walked up behind me.

"I swim in there all the time, but I never bring my suit. I figure there's no one that going to be around here to catch me swimming naked." I felt my cheeks heat up and knew that I was blushing. I was suddenly thinking about the dreams that I had been having about Edward and really wanting to act them out. Luckily, I was able to come to my senses before I did something embarrassing, like jumping Edward and tackling him to the ground. Believe me, I was really, really tempted to do just that. Or strip naked myself and jump into the creek.

I forced myself to walk away from the creek and out to the clearing. I went to the dead center and laid down. The flowers were so tall that I knew that I had disappeared from Edward's view. That was totally cool.

Edward had to call out to me to find out where I was, and then came to lie down next to me. He reached out and grabbed my hand. We spent the rest of our afternoon talking. I mean really and truly talking. We set plans to go out on a date as soon as I was back from Phoenix. I was both looking forward to that and petrified at the same time. Jamie was the only guy that I had ever been on a date with.

We stayed there, lying in the grass for as long as we could. Eventually we had to force ourselves to leave if we were going to make it to his parents' house in time for dinner. I didn't want to go. I didn't want to leave this beautiful meadow; there was a part of me that was afraid that I would never get the chance to see it again. Before we left, though, Edward made sure that he got a picture of my lying among the flowers with his phone.

We were quiet on the ride back to my place. Edward flipped through the radio stations until he found an oldies station that made him happy. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warm breeze that was flowing in through the window. Quicker than it seemed possible, we were pulling into Charlie's driveway. My driveway. There was a small part of me that was still in shock that I had actually decided to move to Forks.

Edward walked me to the door and kissed me on the cheek before walking back to the truck. He was taking it to run back to his place to clean up and change for dinner. I walked into the house and went to the living room to clean up a little. I picked up the two empty wine bottles and turned to take them to the kitchen to throw them away when I saw my phone sticking out from under the couch. I hadn't even realized that I didn't have it with me today. I flipped it open and saw that I had several missed calls and texts from Mom, Jamie, and Vicky. I sent them a group text that I was fine and had been out all day.

I would be back in Phoenix in a couple of days, and I would tell Jamie and Vicky then. It's just not something that I really wanted to get into over the phone, at least not tonight. I hadn't brought a lot of clothes up with me and the only dressy thing was the black dress that I wore to the funeral. There was no way that I was wearing that to dinner, I was going to have to settle for a little sundress. I had just finished battling with all the knots in my hair when there was a knock on the door. I was surprised that Edward had made it back so quickly.

I ran down the stairs and flung the door open, only to be surprised by the person that was actually standing there, "Rose! Everything ok?" I asked, stepping back to let her in.

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you wanted to ride with us."

"Uh…thanks but Edward is going to come back for me."

"Really? So he really did get his head out of his ass and talk to you?"

I nodded, "We spent the day together." Rose perked up at that but thankfully, just as she opened her mouth to say something else, Emmett yelled from across the street that he couldn't find the pants she'd said she had laid out for him. I looked around Rose and unfortunately got a full view of Emmett standing on the porch in nothing but a t-shirt and his boxers. Rose buried her face in her hands and ran back to her house before anyone else could see Emmett. I was still standing there laughing when a truck, that was not mine, pulled into the driveway. Out of it climbed a Native American and a woman. I stood on the porch, a little scared after the warning that I was given about Billy. I wished that I had my cell phone on me but it was still where I had dropped it on the couch after sending that text message earlier.

They walked up to me and the man reached his hand out to me, "Hi, Ms. Swan, I'm Sam Uley, and this is my wife Emily. We don't want to take up too much of your time, but we've been out of town, on our honeymoon, actually. We just got back and heard about Charlie. We just wanted to stop by and tell you that we're sorry about your loss, and if you need anything just let us know. Charlie was always a great guy. I'm the chief of the reservation police so I've worked with Charlie on a lot of cases over the years." I shook the guy's hand and turned to the woman who reached out and grabbed me into a hug. "We don't want you to think that everyone from the Rez is bad." They seemed genuine, perhaps even the type of people that I could be friends with when I returned for good. I would have to think about that though. They were pulling out of the drive when Edward finally returned.

The second I walked into the Cullen's home Esme pounced on me, for a minute I was afraid that she was never going to let me go. Edward smiled as he kissed her on the cheek and walked off to find his brother, leaving me to figure out how to get loose from Esme on my own.

After a few seconds Carlisle came up to us, "Esme dear, let the poor girl go. Besides, Rose is playing with your new blender." That got her to let go of me as she ran off for her kitchen. I followed Carlisle out to the back porch where Bree came running at me the second she saw me. It suddenly hit me that there was no way that I ever would have been able to leave this family behind. Whether or not Edward wanted me to stay didn't really matter. I wanted me to stay. That was important for me to know and understand. I was never the type to make major life decisions to please others and I wasn't going to start now.

It wasn't long before Rose came out with a pitcher of daiquiris for us and beers for the guys. Esme and Carlisle followed her out with the food. As soon everyone was seated with their drink and supper I stood up, "I have something to say. After a lot of thought and discussion, I've made a decision. Tomorrow when I leave to return to Phoenix, it won't be for the reason that I originally planned. I'm going to pack my condo and put it up for sale. I'll be back home, here home, just as soon as I can manage it." I looked around the table, Edward and Emmett were smiling and the rest of them looked to be in shock. I smiled and waited for my announcement to really set in and once it did there was no way that any of them were going to be able to extricate me from Esme's grip until she was good and ready to let me go.

A/N:

I'm back from NaNo and my vacation and should be back to weekly updates. A big thank you to Sweetpea123 for being an amazing beta and friend. Reviews will get teasers and thank you for your patience this last month.

Now I have a question for all of you, how upset would you guys be if I wrote a story that was Edward/Leah. I have the very beginnings of a plot bunny running through my head. All I know at this point is at some point Edward will be with Leah. I'm still figuring it out; I just want to know if my amazing readers would be upset if I went there. Let me know in a review or pm.