A/N: I'm back!

So, as some of you know, I just returned from a whirlwind trip through Europe. If you follow me on facebook, I'll be posting pics and some silly observations soon.

Thanks so much, guys, for all your wonderful thoughts. I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I've got the kiddies and hubby waiting for me, so we'll have to leave off here for now. It's pretty long as it is anyway, lol.

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine as well.

Broken - Chapter 26

For the next couple of hours, I sat up in bed with the laptop propped on my legs and Skyped back and forth with Emmett. We reviewed the FDA's final decision and findings on the H5N2 anti-viral, and after each document that I read and subsequently added my electronic signature to, I breathed a sigh of relief because we finally seemed to be on the right track. So far, there were no major setbacks impeding our progress.

Further proving the rightness of the track my life had suddenly taken, the most wonderful woman in the world slept soundly next to me. Every couple of minutes, in between reading and signing, I snuck reassuring glances and sighed at the sight of Bella, lying in my bed. If I had to be completely honest, these sighs were even more pronounced than the satisfied sighs at having an FDA-approved anti-viral in hand. What that said of my priorities at the moment didn't concern me in the least bit. I was taking care of one priority, and the other...Jesus, I could finally claim the other priority as truly mine.

I reveled in the even rise and fall of Bella's chest, watching her sleep as if she hadn't a care in the world, as if she was in the middle of the best damn dream of her life. I smiled to myself at the faint smile she wore, and I wondered what subconscious thoughts made her smile that way? Was she dreaming of me...of us? I chuckled under my breath every time she kicked me in her sleep, which was often. I'd have to guard my shins in the future. I snorted at the fact that she'd ended up with all the covers, which was fine because her body radiated more than enough heat to keep me comfortable. Then, I recalled she was completely naked under those covers, and I remembered how she'd felt...how I'd felt buried deep inside her just a couple of short hours earlier, while she rode me and-

And the laptop's ping interrupted my internal musings.

Hello? Ed, I've been waiting for an answer for ten minutes. It doesn't take that long to give a yes or a no. What are you doing? Wait, are you...you're not otherwise engaged, are you?

Emmett, you've been waiting for my reply for thirty seconds, and what I'm doing - not that it's your business - is double-checking before I reply to you, so that I can provide a correct answer to your question.

Bullshit. The answer to what I asked is something you know off the bat, without having to double-check a damn thing. Otherwise, I could've doublechecked myself without asking YOU. Dude, if tonight's uncharacteristic snail speed of yours isn't because you're simultaneously making love to Bella while reviewing these documents, then it's because you're staring at her while she sleeps next to you, and you're daydreaming about making love to her. Either way, you can give her your full attention, and I can get to sleep a lot sooner if you FOCUS ON THE DOCUMENTS IN FRONT OF YOU!

You're an asshole.

Hah! That's not a denial! So, which of the two above-mentioned scenarios was I right about?

After that, I challenged myself to get to the end of a document or of an attachment or of a signature line before allowing myself a peek at Bella, so I wouldn't have to read shit from Emmett. I turned my peeks and glances at Bella, in my bed, into a sort of a game, or a reward for getting to the end of a task.

Emmett and I had just signed off on the last document when Bella stretched out next to me. She kicked at the covers while concurrently kicking my shins. When she opened her dark eyes and looked up, the smile that lit up her face as if she was absolutely overjoyed at finding me beside her...fuck if that wasn't the best reward of all.

"Sorry if I woke you." I offered her a rueful smile. "I just had to send something out to Emmett before he came knocking on my door at sun-up."

Bella chuckled, and the sleepy quality of her voice made the sound unintentionally husky. "The booster vaccine?"

I shut the laptop. "Mhm. It's ready and FDA-sanctioned. Just needed to sign off on some stuff."

"My nerdy scientist." As Bella's drowsy eyes held mine, I wondered if she had any clue of what it did to me when she called me hers, or how, that combined with the raw emotion making her dark eyes sparkle left me struggling in a suspended and continuous sense of semi-disbelief.

Because how had we gotten here when just twenty-four hours earlier, I'd given up on such an outcome? Yes, she'd given me the macro-picture:

Bella's subconscious had held on to latent memories of my presence on That Day. When we re-met a year later, those dormant memories, combined with the new moments we created together, began to morph into love. But it was a love which, at the time, and once she discovered my lies, was weaved together with too many painful memories to be healthy for her. So, she'd try to suppress that love, to replace it with another relationship, which perhaps at face value, appeared a better option. Another year passed, and as she developed friendships, rediscovered herself, and understood herself better, she developed trust in herself once more - something she'd needed to do on her own. At that point, she was ready to trust others again...and to forgive me.

That was the macro-picture.

What I still didn't know were the details, the micro-parts of the picture which led her to my door last evening - with an injured ankle no less. Though I'd never admit it to Emmett, he was right; the micro-parts of the picture mattered just as much.

While all these thoughts raced through my mind, Bella and I continued holding one another's gaze. When she released a long, breathy sigh, the silvery lamplight illuminated the way the ivory covers rose and fell with her shoulders, like a whitewater wave along a dark stream. It was all so damn dream-like.

"What are you thinking?" she murmured.

I reached out and touched her hair, smiling to myself as I skimmed my fingers gently through the long strands, reassuring myself. I inhaled the unparalleled sweet scent in the air, which was purely Bella, reassuring myself. And all the while, I averted my gaze as I thought through my reply because I was still in disbelief, and that part of it, at least, was losing its luster. As thrilled as I was, I knew myself; this accompanying bewilderment, this discomfiting incredulity would not only remain but begin eating at me until I had the complete picture.

"I'm thinking about how massively fucked up it would be if I woke up in the morning…" Swallowing, I gathered my courage and met her gaze, "if I woke up and this was all just another dream."

Bella's breath left her in a long rush of air. "Edward…" She shifted quickly, leaning into me and brushing her lips against the closest part of me she could reach - my thigh. The action was meant to soothe, and it did; it did. It also engendered the most amazing juxtaposition of relief versus frenzy, reassurance and a quickened pulse, all while awakening more physiological reactions. I hissed as every hair on my thighs stood on end and blood raced wildly into every extremity, and yeah, while I hardened into a steel pipe.

But when her eyes met mine once again, I forced those base, reflexive reactions to the foreground. We had to talk.

Bella's own confessions poured out in a whisper. "I dreamed of you too, Edward, even if my conscious mind wasn't always ready to remember the dreams. But my subconscious never forgot it was you. And if you're dreaming now..." she smiled, "so am I, and it's the best dream of my life, and I don't want it to ever end."

And just like that, the woman excited and calmed me all the more. "Then, neither of us better wake up."

"Good idea. And by the way, you didn't wake me - or rather, you did but not with your laptop." She expelled a long, cat-like yawn, stretching her arms and kicking her legs around yet again, loosening the blankets around her all the more so that they fell below her navel and exposed her smooth midsection and her plump breasts. "Since my divorce, I've grown used to having the bed all to myself."

Once again, my thoughts ran in two conflicting directions:

The first - it would seem the reason Bella kicked around and hogged the covers so much was because she was used to having the bed all to herself. Beyond the relief of that extrapolation, there was the second fact - her breasts were begging me to touch them, resting so close to me, pink nipples firm and hard.

I carelessly plopped the laptop onto the crate beside my bed and sank down into the covers with Bella, pulling her warm body against mine. Her soft breasts pushed against my chest, and she giggled, giggles which turned to moans when I kissed her and stroked them.

But we had to talk.

Pulling away enough so that my erection was no longer pressed against her stomach, I slid my hands down and molded them around her backside instead, ghosting the rounded swells and trying my damndest to ignore what was becoming a painful throbbing between my legs.

"How much of an immature, thirty-five-year-old jerk would I be if I admitted that I kind of love knowing that?"

"Knowing what, Edward? That despite the relationship I was in," she held my gaze somewhat warily, "he never slept over, and I never slept over...Edward, he and I...but I haven't spent a full night in a man's bed since I was married. And I don't know why I'm telling you these things."

Of course, I understood what she was hesitantly telling me. Again, I'd be lying to myself if I pretended it wasn't painful to hear, but I'd already accepted the fact that Bella was in a mature relationship with someone else. Instead, I chose to focus on what had apparently caused me unnecessary despair.

"So you never lived with him?"

"No." She snorted. "What makes you ask that?"

I shook my head. "Something I misunderstood, and it was my own fault, and it doesn't matter. And yes," I said, grinning broadly now, "does the fact that I love knowing that make me an immature jerk?"

"A bit of one," she smirked. "Jerk."

I chuckled unabashedly and squeezed her backside tighter. "How about if I admitted that I'm used to sleeping alone too?"

"That might absolve you a bit." Bella pulled away enough to cup my cheek, holding my gaze and whispering. "Edward...I know I have no right to ask, and I swear I didn't tell you what I did so that you'd feel obligated to answer me, but I wonder...was there anyone...in any way...after you and I...? You don't have to-"

No, Bella." I admitted it openly, with no hesitation or reserve or some inane desire to be vague or circumspect. "Not at all. In any way. I couldn't, and the few times I tried, you were there. You were everywhere. I couldn't erase your file either. I couldn't even set it aside."

I felt no shame in admitting it, no wish to even the score, to plant the mysterious specter of some unknown woman in Bella's mind and make her wonder about her for the rest of our lives with unnecessary what-ifs arising from,

'Well, there was a gorgeous, intelligent woman at work who was constantly after me,' or with,

'My ex-girlfriend' was beyond ready to marry me from Day One and would've come back to me with one word,' or with,

'For months, my mom and Emmett were anxious to hook me up with every available and willing man or woman within a fifty-mile radius.'

Because the fact was that none of those were ever options. Yet despite what I thought she'd be relieved to hear, Bella squeezed her eyes shut, and I frowned in confusion when a flash of intense pain crossed her features.

"I'm sorry that I can't say the same-"

"Hey." I waited for her eyes to open. "Don't be sorry. I'm not looking for an apology. Was he good to you?"

She nodded. "He was."

I nodded stoically in return. "I could tell. That day in the restaurant...you looked about as happy as I'd ever seen you."

"Edward..."

"It's fine. You look way happier now." When I grinned, Bella chuckled.

"I am way happier now. I'm happier than I could've ever imagined. Edward...he was a good man. He just wasn't you."

I swallowed hard. "I'd be lying if I said I don't thank my lucky stars for that, that you couldn't just easily erase my file and replace it with his."

She snorted. "Now you're just being a smug jerk."

"Bella, I am glad he was good to you...and good for you. If it had to happen this way, I'm grateful you were with someone who treated you well. But my love, you're here with me now, where you've always belonged." I shrugged without apology. "That's all I care about and all I care to focus on, except that maybe…" I kissed her again, inhaled her heady breaths, "maybe we should work on getting used to feeling one another's bodies in the middle of the night, then neither of us will be shocked when the other turns out to be a cover-hogger and a sleep-kicker."

"Mmm," she hummed dreamily against my mouth, squirming, creeping higher on the bed and trying to line us up just right, "sounds like a good-"

When her eyes popped open, she propped herself on an elbow, while I suppressed both the now excruciating erection and contrasting bubbling laughter. How it was possible to feel both at once, I had no idea, but that was one of the many wonders of loving Bella.

"Wait a minute." Bella scowled. "Are you suggesting I hog the covers or that I kick in my sleep?"

With an exaggerated, long-suffering sigh, I laid my head back against the pillow and quirked an eyebrow. "I said and, not or."

Her nostrils flared, and when she sat up, I gave in to the laughter if not the hard-on just yet and pulled her against my chest as she pretended to shove me off.

"Shit. Shit." She pushed me away harder, her palms splayed against my chest. Still chuckling, I released her. As soon as I did, she sat up and moved to the edge of the bed.

"Bella, I was just kidding. I mean, it's true, but I don't care."

"Edward, where's my phone?"

Wrapped in her comforter, she hopped off the bed and apparently forgot all about her injured ankle. Her foot hit the wooden floor, and she hissed sharply. That was when my amusement completely dispelled. Instead, a sliver of wariness took root, and before she could hurt herself any further, I lunged off the bed and gripped the blanket she was wrapped in, steadying her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Your ankle, my love."

Bella continued struggling. "Edward, I've got to go downstairs. I need my phone, and it's in my bag."

"Your bag is right here, Bella." Still holding her blanket securely, I stretched my other arm and reached for Bella's bag, which was on top of the crate. "Didn't want you looking for it in the middle of the night and hurting that ankle, so I brought it up just in case."

She stopped struggling long enough to smile and offer me a quick kiss before she dug into her bag. "Thank you." When she pulled out her phone and read the screen, she grimaced.

"Shit. Shit, shit, shit."

By now, wariness was morphing into outright panic. I guided her by the blankets to the edge of the bed, raking a hand through my hair.

"Everything okay?"

She wrapped the blankets securely around her, and when she finally looked up, the tense expression in her eyes further alarmed me. What the hell was going on? Was the ex-boyfriend being an asshole after all? Why was she so suddenly on edge?

But in the next moment, the lines of stress which had abruptly appeared between her brows disappeared, and a different sort of resolve seemed to take hold of her.

"First things first. Edward, do you remember when I arrived here a few hours ago, and I told you I had a bit of a long story to tell you?"

"Yeah," I said warily.

"Well, this phone call," she said, holding up the phone to me, "is part of that story, but before I even get to that, I should tell you I ran into your dad yesterday."

Strange, how that was probably one of the last things I'd expected Bella to say. I opened my mouth, but I didn't even know where to begin.

"Ran into him," I reiterated uselessly.

"I suppose it was more like I went searching for him," she said, though the clarification only served to puzzle me even more.

"You went searching for him. How…?" By then, the erection was completely forgotten as my father's involvement in this situation truly dawned on me. Instead, my blood began a completely different sort of slow simmer.

"I sprained my ankle after a meeting I attended, which I'll tell you all about in a minute, but I ended up in the same hospital where he works and where I was taken...That Day."

"But my father is in Cardiology." The simmer quickened into a boil, which caused my nostrils to flare because one thing was now clear: there was a confrontation between Bella and my father. "Wait, did he come looking for you?"

"No." Bella firmly shook her head. "No. I heard him being paged, and at first, I thought they were paging you. But then I remembered there's another Doctor Cullen, and he'd be the one being paged in that hospital. So I took the elevator up to Cardiology."

She paused, and I forced myself to feign patience where my father was involved, while I waited for her to tell the story at her pace.

"I'm not even sure why I sought him out," she said after an excruciating half minute, "other than my thirst for answers."

My eyes narrowed into suspicious slits. "He wasn't an asshole to you, Bella, was he?"

"No, no." She shook my head. "I mean, he said some things, but it doesn't matter."

"Things like what?" I prompted her through a now tight jaw.

"Edward, it doesn't matter. It really doesn't."

She reiterated the words with a forced smile, and that's what killed me. After everything we'd been through, we were still in a place where we weren't ready to be completely forthcoming with one another. And yeah, I'd been the one who'd started us off on this footing, with my lies by omission, evasions which I'd convinced myself were for Bella's own good, sparing her irrelevant facts. That had gotten us nowhere, and swiftly. I'd started it, and therefore, it was up to me to make this right, to help Bella see that there was no need to protect me from the fact that my father was an asshole. With a deep sigh, I reached out and rested a hand under the blankets and on top of Bella's warm thigh.

"Bella, I know I haven't always been honest or forthcoming with you-"

"Edward-" She shook her head.

"But I hope you know…or at least, that you're willing to give me a chance to prove that from now on when you need answers, I'll always give them to you."

"I do know that, Edward, which is why I left his office and came here. Because I realized that any answers I wanted, I wanted from you."

"I'm glad." It was a good beginning. "But it has to work both ways, my love."

Bella blinked, opened her mouth and shut it. Then, she swallowed, and after a few moments, she slipped her hand under the one I had on her thigh and weaved our fingers together.

"You're right, Edward. You're right. Your father and I spoke about a few things, some which I already knew, some which I didn't."

I quirked a brow. "Such as?"

"Such as…he told me that last year, after you and I broke up – for lack of a better phrase-"

"That phrase fits it pretty well," I cut in. "At least, it felt like a break up to me."

"To me too, Edward," she said quietly. "Your dad told me that even after we broke up, you warned Alice and Jasper to stay away from me." She paused, waiting, I wasn't sure for what. "Why, Edward?" she asked.

"Because you were right, Bella," I replied fervently and reflexively. "You needed us all out of your life: Alice, Jasper, and me. What was I but a fucking reminder?" I spat. "And I finally saw how selfish I'd been, putting my wants before your needs." I looked away from her as I recalled those weeks of pain mixed with fury which had ensued until I finally accepted how wrong I'd been, and all that remained was pain and regret. "So, if there was no other way for me to ever make things up to you, I'd at least make sure those other two assholes left you alone. I didn't tell them that I'd…that we'd almost had something going because I didn't think you'd want them in your personal business. But I did tell them that if I ever got wind that either of them had approached you at either your home or anywhere else in this city, I'd call the cops on them myself and let them know they were violating the terms of the restraining order. And…I may have shoved Jasper around a bit." I shrugged, unable to apologize for my high-handedness, for taking it upon myself to handle them, when I'd had no right.

Yet, instead of the furious retort I rightly deserved from her, Bella wrapped her arms around my shoulders, allowing the blankets to tumble to the floor. She brushed her lips back and forth against mine, comforting me when I deserved no such comfort, then pulling away to hold my gaze.

"Even after I told you to leave me alone, you did all that for me. Jesus, no wonder."

"No wonder what?" I murmured, still confused.

"Your dad asked me if I'd used you; if I knew all along that you were Alice's brother and used you to get even with her and with Jasper."

"That motherfu-"

"Shh." She silenced me with yet another kiss and a smile, and seriously, how had we made such a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn here? "Let me finish. We promised one another honesty from here on out, right?"

I drew in a deep breath and exhaled, nodding tightly.

"Then, please believe me when I say I don't care. I'm not bothered. I mean, yes, I was mortified at that moment," she amended, "but I can see where he would've gotten that idea. You defended me all along, Edward, and to him, to any outsider, it might seem as if I played my cards that way. Because who would think I'd fall in love with Alice's brother?"

When I shook my head, Bella rested her forehead against mine, and I shut my eyes, sighing.

"But when I'm here, with you, Edward," she murmured, her warm breath washing over me, "it doesn't matter what he thinks. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks. It doesn't matter that Alice is your sister, or that…their child is your nephew." She lifted our entwined hands and kissed my knuckles. "None of it matters when we're together."

I swallowed thickly. "Bella, I've got to tell you off the bat that JJ, my nephew, he's an important part of my life."

Bella held my gaze impassively.

"I mean, I don't get along with his mother," I added carefully, "and I can't stand the sight of his fucking father, but JJ, despite how he came about, is one of the most important beings in my life."

For one long moment, Bella studied me, her eyes shining with unshed tears, lips trembling, yet as much as it tore at me...I couldn't deny JJ. He was my blood, and he had an even bigger asshole for a father than I did as well as a mother overwhelmed by mistakes she'd never admit to, and mistakes she was allowing to eclipse her role as his primary caregiver. And no, I wasn't his caregiver, but I couldn't...wouldn't abandon him. I loved him.

"Bella, I would never try to hurt you with this-"

In the next moment, Bella cradled my face and held my gaze so fiercely it was impossible to tear my eyes away, regardless of what she was preparing to do to me with her next words.

"You see?" she said, a lone tear skimming her cheek. "This is one of the many reasons why I love you so damn much. Because you're such a good man, Edward," she said in a strangled voice, "and I can't believe it took me so damn long to see it." Sucking in a sharp breath, she strengthened her voice. "Edward, I can't sit here and tell you that I'll ever be comfortable around him because I just...I don't know. But he's your nephew, and I love you for loving him so vehemently, so protectively. I love that this is the kind of man you are. I love that you're so defensive, so faithful toward those you love, and God, I wish I could've given you your own-" She cut herself off with a swift head shake. "But there's something I can give you, a promise I can make you, Edward, and it's this: I will never...ever," she said shakily, "try to come between your relationship with him or make you choose in any way. Because like I said, none of it matters when we're together."

"How about when we're not together, Bella? How about when the night ends, or the next day ends, or the day after that ends, and we're not exactly together? Will all these issues still matter then?"

She swallowed hard, but she gave me no answer, and though the irrational part of me wanted to demand an answer, wished more than anything that we could simply resolve all the issues between us in one night...the rational part of me understood it was impossible. There was simply still too much to figure out. So again, I focused on the positive: Bella was here. She loved me. And I loved her. The rest, we'd figure out in bits and pieces.

I cupped her cheek. "Hey, I don't expect us to have all the answers right now, but it's something to think about."

"Okay." She smiled wistfully.

"Guess what?" I breathed. "I love you."

Her smile morphed into something more contented, just as I hoped it would. "I love you, too."

"Then, for now, that's enough," I said honestly, brushing my lips quickly against hers. "So, if we're done with my idiotic father, let's move on to that phone call." I jerked my jaw toward the cell phone she still held clutched in one hand, and sure enough, Bella glanced at the phone as if she's completely forgotten about it.

"Oh, yeah," she chuckled, true excitement tinging her tone now. "That's the other bit of that long story. Now, I probably haven't mentioned her to you before, but I have an agent. Her name is Jessica Stanley, and she's relatively unknown, like me," she chuckled, "and I've been her one and only client for a few months now."

"She sounds promising," I teased.

"Well, here's the thing. Jessica set up a meeting with a publisher for me today, but she didn't tell me which publisher, which I assumed meant we were dealing with yet more relatively unknowns."

"As someone who assumes for a living, that's a valid assumption. So, which publisher did this relatively unknown agent set you up with, Volterra Publishing?"

I was teasing, simply recalling the name of one of the biggest up-and-coming publishing houses in the country, or so I'd read something to that effect lately. I recalled thinking of Bella as I read the article.

And all the while, Bella held my gaze, her grin growing by the second.

"Wait a minute...she didn't really...did she hook you up with Volterra Publishing?"

"Mhm!" Bella practically shrieked now, and the rest erupted in a rush. "Can you believe that? I didn't realize it until we were standing outside of their midtown office. By the time we left the meeting, I was in a daze, which is likely why I tripped and hurt my ankle, but get this, Edward." She squeezed her eyes shut for a second and reopened them. "They're considering an offer for my manuscript, Gemma, but before they provide the particulars, they wanted to take a look at the manuscript for a World War Two series I've been working on, which Jessica also happened to mention to them, because they may offer for the entire collection, though that one's not even complete. Gah! Can you believe that? I mean, can you freaking believe that?"

"Yes, I can," I replied. "I was teasing when I said Volterra because you made it sound as if Jessica had no true connections, but that you deserve to be published by Volterra? Hell yeah," I grinned broadly. "That I've never doubted that. Jesus, Bella." I pulled her in closer and brushed my lips against her forehead. "Baby. Volterra Publishing. You're finally getting the recognition you deserve."

"Edward, you haven't even read my manuscripts," she chuckled softly, pulling back.

I exhaled. "No, I haven't, but you gave me one damn good summary for Gemma a few hours earlier: Star-crossed lovers. She saves the world, and they're no longer star-crossed. Sounds like a best-seller to me."

"Stop joking," she snorted.

"I'm completely serious about more than just that summary," I said soberly. "Bella, I may have never been granted the privilege of reading your work, but don't forget I spent months observing you as you wrote," I reminded her with no shame. "I watched you lose yourself in words and worlds dreamed up by this beautiful mind," I said, cupping the side of her head. "I may not know the words themselves, but I know what you're capable of."

For a long while, Bella took me in silently. "Yet another example of why I love you so much," she finally said dreamily. "You're protective, and you defend what's yours...and you've always been so open in your awe and admiration for what I do." She cupped my jaw and kissed me. "That was different for me, Edward. I'd never had that, and even this past year, I missed how openly you admired my work and how you encouraged me. I hope you know how much awe and admiration I've always had for what you do too, Mister Jack Ryan slash James Bond of the CDC world." She grinned against my mouth.

I chuckled. "All right, all right. Seriously, what are you waiting for, Bella? Return that call."

"Now? It's four in the morning."

She was putting it off because she was scared. But like she'd just said herself, I'd always tried my best to encourage her. I wasn't about to stop now.

"She said ASAP."

I held her hand as she made the phone call, squeezing it tightly as I felt the tremors of fear roll up her spine. But I had enough faith in her for both of us. Ten minutes later, she hung up and released the phone on top of the mattress. All previous fear had disappeared, and the shivers raking her frame now were due more to the bewilderment which was also making her dark eyes sparkle in the dim lighting. I'd heard her side of the conversation, which confirmed that Volterra Publishing was desperate to sign her on all her manuscripts, and she had to meet with them at eight in the morning. Bella more or less reiterated the facts, though she would never admit they were desperate. But signing her on a half-finished manuscript? I knew what that meant.

"I knew it all along," I chuckled quietly, while she continued staring at me through slightly dazed eyes. "Since that day I walked into the coffee shop and found you reading your passages out loud to yourself, debating synonyms while your hands glided over that keyboard as if they could barely keep up with your thoughts, and with a glazed look in your eyes as you bit your thumbnail beds raw in your deep focus. I knew you'd be famous."

She cupped my cheek, searched my eyes. "I don't care about fame, but Edward, am I dreaming? Not just regarding Volterra, but having you by my side through it all? Because that's what makes this so dream-like. I can't imagine...I mean, there's only one other thing...Edward, how is it possible that you're here with me for this?"

I smiled softly. "Now you're beginning to understand how I feel."

She smiled in return, and I folded her in my arms and laid her against the mattress. We kissed, and we talked, and it led to where it was always going to lead between us, from the very beginning. And though I meant to let her sleep at least for a short while, before her big meeting...we didn't sleep a wink for the rest of that morning.

OOOOO

At six a.m., I dropped Bella off in a cab in front of the apartment she shared with her very female friend and roommate, Makenna - who Bella tended to call Mack, for short.

We kissed and chuckled like stupid teenagers in the back seat of the cab as it idled at the curb.

"This is going to sound extremely codependent and immature, and my old therapist turned best-friend, Rose would likely wring my neck if she ever found out I said this," Bella chuckled, "but I don't want to leave you. I wish I could pull you into my meeting with me."

I chuckled along against her mouth. "Mmm. Well, this is going to sound codependent and immature as well, and my buddy Emmett would have a field day if he heard me, but I wish I could bring you into work with me too."

"We're horrible," she laughed.

"So what?" I smirked.

"Yeah, so what?" With a deep sigh, Bella pulled away and held my gaze. "Thanks for foregoing your morning run for me today. After that sex marathon, I couldn't have run a block much less a mile."

I chuckled under my breath, catching the cab driver's raised eyebrow and 'thumb's up' sign through the rearview mirror. "I'll be honest with you, Bella, I probably couldn't have gotten too far either."

"I hope you're not too tired for your meeting with the FDA this morning."

"I'll be fine. I hope you're not too tired for your meeting with Volterra, though you've got that in the bag."

For a few moments, we silently held one another's gaze, until the cab driver cleared his throat.

"Edward, thank you."

"For what, Bella?"

She kissed me fast and hard, and when she spoke, her voice shook with emotion. "For loving me so purely. Meet me at our coffee shop at noon?"

"I'll be there."

She swallowed, kissed me hurriedly and firmly once more, murmured, "I love you," in my ear, and left the cab in a rush, almost as if she was honestly afraid she wouldn't be able to make herself leave otherwise.

And the truth was, had she not practically lunged herself out of the car, I may not have been able to let her go. She was being signed by Volterra, and I was thrilled for her, but I'd caught enough of the conversation between her and her agent to extrapolate the rest: Just as we'd finally made our way back to one another, Bella would be traveling. And with the booster vaccine finally ready for production, I'd be extremely busy around here.

I wasn't sure how long or in what form, but there was another separation in store for Bella and me.

And now...it was time to give dear old dad a call.

A/N: Thoughts?

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