Good evening lovelies! Lots of theories about what could be coming, and... I will say some are close. We'll see as we go forward.

So, let's get to some really important info in this chapter.

Chapter 10 - Part

BPOV

Pulling up to Edward's house, I pull in behind him in the driveway and he motions for me to pull into the two car garage beside him.

Parking the car, I get out and join him. He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the stairs and to the front door.

Inside the house, I find myself nervous being alone, late at night, with a man.

It was one thing being here the other night with him for dinner and just hanging out. It's another being here late in the evening with no intention of leaving for the night.

"You ok?" Edward asks when he sees me hesitate, standing back in the wide open foyer.

I take a few moments to try to shake off this shit and spend what little time left here with Edward before I leave.

"Yeah. Just a little nervous, I guess. It's been a long time since I've been in any sort of situation like this." I tell him as I wring my hands together.

He walks back over to me, taking my hands in his and looks in my eyes.

"Bella, I told you earlier. No funny business. I'm just being purely selfish in wanting to spend more time with you, without onlookers. There's no pressure, no expectations, nothing for you to be afraid of. It's just me." He says tenderly.

I look down, feeling like an asshole that I'm the one making this harder.

"I know. It's just a kneejerk reaction, I guess. My subconscious taking over. I know you'd never hurt me." I say as I take in the adoring look on his face.

He leans down and kisses my cheek and pulls me further into the house.

We go into the kitchen and he asks, "You want a snack? I know it's late, buuuutttt…." He pulls out a carton of ice cream, waving it around, and I've got a craving for something we used to indulge in when we were younger.

I smile, and scoot over to his pantry to see if he has the provisions we would need for what I've got in mind.

I see some good options in his junk food selection and I turn my head back to his curious gaze and ask him, "Are you up for some gluttony?" I waggle my eyebrows at him.

I see the light click on for him. "Oh you're a dangerous woman, but I like the way you think." He runs over and starts pulling down bowls while I pull out our supplies.

So, something we would indulge in when we were younger was crazy loaded milkshakes or ice cream sundaes. Just loaded down with all sorts of insane stuff. And I wasn't kidding when I said 'gluttony' to describe this dessert.

Tonight, I had vanilla and chocolate ice cream, topped with a swiss cake roll cut in half, chopped up Reese's peanut butter cups, a couple of broken up Oreo cookies, a little whipped cream, some chocolate syrup and a Lindor truffle on top.

I call it 'death by chocolate sundae'. And it's DELISH!

Edward had vanilla ice cream, topped with a twinkie cut in half, a couple of broken up cream filled vanilla wafers, some chopped up strawberries, a white chocolate macadamia cookie, and some strawberry syrup.

We stand around the island in the kitchen, taking in our handy work.

"I clearly win at being the fatass tonight." I laugh and grab a spoon, jumping up to sit on the counter to dig into my masterpiece.

"I beg to differ!" he says in mock offense, and takes a seat on one of the barstools so he can dig into his own late night snack.

I don't know why I ever left this man behind. I was stupid in doing so. Everything is just so easy with him. Even when I first fell in love with him, everything was so easy and came so fluidly with us. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why I thought it would be a good idea to ever be without him.

As we sit and stuff our faces and make small talk, I get more and more contemplative.

I don't know that I want to stay in L.A. anymore. I really don't. I'd been thinking about it since Edward asked earlier in the week, why I didn't just come home… And it dawned on me that, maybe I should.

I want to be here, with Edward. And my mom, and Alice. I miss my home. I miss the history, the atmosphere, and the food. I miss the familiarity of home. There's no other place like this.

There's not a whole lot keeping me in L.A. Sure, I've got Rosalie and Jasper and Emmett out there. But I don't have any pressing matters that keep me tied to that place.

I can continue to be a silent co-owner for the club.

I can fly out there for any projects Rose might have for me. They've been few and far between lately, with the exception of this Disney thing I'm thinking about accepting, and the possible Broadway one. But that's in New York.

I can always go out there to see Rose and Jasper and Emmett. I'd miss them like crazy, but I miss my home too much.

And then it hits me that I always refer to this place as my home, and the place I live as L.A…

I pause with my spoon midair and my eyes wide.

All of a sudden I have the urge to start looking at real estate here…

"You ok?" Edward asks, concern apparent on his face as I seem to be frozen.

I shake it off and tell him, "Yeah. I was just thinking about stuff." I shove my bite of ice cream in my mouth and poke him with my foot that's dangling off the side of the island beside him.

He smiles and pokes me back with his cold spoon, which makes me jump and squeak. "That's cold!"

"It was meant to be!" He retorted, finishing off his messy sundae.

I just shake my head, smiling at him. "What am I gonna do with you?"

He gets this soft look on his face. "Love me?"

And I'm not even flinching at his question. I'm shocked a little, but in no way am I scared of what he's said.

"I do." I whisper to him, smiling when his face breaks out into a radiant smile, also.

He leans up, puts one hand on my cheek and leans in and kisses me tenderly, his tongue seeking entrance to my mouth. And I let him, feeling his tongue dance with mine.

We sit there like that for what feels like an hour, but is only a few minutes.

When he pulls back, he leans his forehead against mine.

"I don't know how I'm gonna let you leave in a couple days…" He says in a somewhat pained voice.

I sigh and can't help but agree with him. "I know. Now that I'm back here, and reconnecting with you… I don't want to go back."

"Do you think we can make this work, somehow?" He looks up into my eyes and I can see the hope there, shining.

Thinking about it, there's no way I'm gonna let this man slip away again.

"Absolutely."

Later on, after we've settled down and our sugar high has worn off, Edward leads me upstairs to his bedroom.

I'm not as nervous now as I was when I first got here earlier.

Walking in his bedroom, Edward goes over to his dresser and pulls out a pair of shorts and t-shirt, handing them to me. "I figure you don't wanna sleep in jeans and a blouse."

I blush a little, not having even thought about it earlier. "You're right. But you may not get these back." I smirk at him as I walk towards his bathroom to change.

"I'm not gonna complain." He snickers from his spot by the dresser as he pulls out a pair of shorts for himself.

Quickly changing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth with the extra toothbrush Edward had and washing my face, I walk back out into the bedroom and see Edward has turned down the bed.

"Go ahead and get comfy." He tells me as he passes me to head into the bathroom to handle his nightly business.

I walk over and sit on the edge of the bed, noting how cushy the mattress is.

Oh yeah, baby. That's a good mattress to sink into and hibernate.

I sit there for couple of minutes, just thinking.

While I'm over in Europe, I may have to tell Rose to find a real estate agent to list my house. It's not a big, gaudy house or anything. It's modest, for any celebrity, but it was just me living there. And I'd always been raised to not go off the deep end buying big, extravagant things that I don't need.

Yes, I indulged in a few things here and there, but nothing huge. I did buy a nice, good quality car when I first started making good money. Bought my little three bedroom home. But I put most of what I made away until I needed it.

If I move, I'm gonna have to either have my car shipped here or I'm gonna have to drive across country… Which doesn't sound incredibly appealing to me, but we'll see.

I know it would take time to sell my house and find one here and all that, but I wanna be proactive-

My thoughts are cut off by Edward opening the bathroom door and walking over to the bed.

"You seem really distracted tonight. Are you sure you're ok? I don't want you to be uncomfortable. I want you to feel at home and safe here." He says as he climbs up on his side of the bed.

I turn and climb further in the bed, myself. "No, I'm fine. Trust me, this is the most comfortable I've been in years. I'm just thinking a lot tonight. Figuring out some decisions I need to make."

He gets comfortable under the comforter and turns to me. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Snuggling down into the bed, I turn and face him, laying my head on the soft pillow. "You already are. I don't wanna say anything to my mom or anyone else yet… I'm just thinking about the prospect of maybe coming home. And I'm not putting anything in stone yet, but I don't feel comfortable in L.A. anymore. I wanna be here, at home. This is the place I feel safe. I can breathe here. And, maybe, pick up where we left off with you and me…"

"You don't even have to worry about that last part." He says and reaches over and kisses me. "As for the rest of it, I think you're right. Figure out exactly what you want to do, and get things rolling if you do decide to come home. I'm not telling you what to do but I do think it may be best for your health, first and foremost. All that anxiety takes a toll on your system and could eventually start causing some other health problems. So, just from a health perspective, I think it's a good idea. From a personal perspective, of course, I couldn't think of a better outcome than you coming home. I miss you and I still love you, Bella."

It's the first time he's actually said the words. He'd implied it several times before, but to actually say those words, sends my heart racing.

"I still love you, too." I tell him and capture his lips with my own, as we move closer to each other, tangling our limbs together.

We stay tangled up and kissing for a while, whispering affectionate words to each other.

We both finally settle down and drift off to sleep, me with my head nestled under his chin, and with his arm wrapped around my waist. I feel safe and protected from my nightmares like this.

Waking up in the morning, I see that the sun hasn't quite started peaking over the horizon. The sky has that purple-grey color going on.

Edward is laying on his back, still asleep.

I lay there for a while, staring at him, and eventually start thinking again.

Mostly of what area I could move to if I come home.

Downtown Charleston would be ideal, but some of the outlying areas wouldn't be bad either. Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island would be great options.

With my mind wandering, I grab my phone, propping myself up slightly, and just start looking around to see what's available and maybe start narrowing down where I wanna live.

I know I could stay with my mom for a while if I needed to, but I'd like to have my own place. I know she and Phil are serious, so I don't want to completely encroach on their time together.

I'm on a few different real estate websites when I feel the bed shift and Edward's head leaning against my shoulder.

"What are you doing, Beautiful?" He asks in a gravelly, sleepy voice.

"Just looking up some places around here. Getting an idea of some areas I might be interested in." I tell him as he peaks at my phone.

"I thought you said you'd never have a beach house in Charleston because of the hurricanes…" He says as he spots some of the places I've saved.

"I know, and I may stick to that, but it doesn't mean I can't look and see if my beach bum dreams could still be possible." I nudge him with my shoulder.

He pinches my side, causing me to shriek and kick at him. He knows I hate that shit.

"Well… I know it's soon, but I'll throw the option out there that you could always come live with me…" He suggests in a hopeful voice as he looks up at me from his spot.

I'm a little shocked that he's suggesting that, but can't help but want to… But he's right, it's probably too soon.

I purse my lips and tell him, "You're right, it might be. But I will keep that offer in mind. I do love you, but I don't want to jump the gun on anything. We aren't the same people we were before and we need to get to know each other again. I may come back home and we grow to hate each other." I smirk over at him, seeing the little pout on his face from my last sentence. "Naw, don't pout, honey." I lean over and kiss it away. "You know I'm kidding. But we do need to learn about each other again. A lot can change over the years."

"Well, the offer stands open. I bought this house in hopes of someday settling down with Mrs. Right and having a family. I would like to think that I found her again and we can start on that road to a family, one day…" He looks over at me with a hopeful look in his eyes.

I can't help but smile in my own hope. I lean my forehead against his and just revel in his closeness. "You have no idea how appealing that sounds." Then I realize something and look down.

"What is it?"

I know I need to tell him this because he deserves to know, if we're gonna pursue anything together. "Umm… after my attack… my gynecologist said there was some damage since, you know, umm… they weren't exactly gentle. So, children are up in the air for me. She said it could go either way. But I thought you should know that before we tried to go any further."

He looks contemplative for a few moments. "Well, that's something we can deal with later on, when the time comes. It doesn't change how I feel about you. It doesn't make you any less of a person. I still love you, no matter what."

I burrow into his chest, trying to get as close as I can to him.

"I realized last night that I'm always referring to this place as home. I don't do that with L.A.." I pause, letting him take that little bit of info in. "This has always been my home. I feel more comfortable here. And with what happened to me… this place feels like where I should be to heal. Not where it happened and where I feel like I'm always on pins and needles… I feel like I need to be around a support system. The only support system I have in L.A. are Rose, Jasper and Emmett. That's it. I have no familiarity in that city. It's just a place I live right now, to me."

Edward squeezes me tighter to him, if it's at all possible. "Baby, there's no shame in getting away from a stressful environment. In coming home. No one can call you a coward or accuse you of tucking your tail and running. You'd be doing what's best for you and your health and sanity. You went through a traumatic event, and you haven't been able to fully heal your mind. Your body may have physically healed, for the most part, but the things under the surface haven't been able to."

Feeling like this is all a dream, I pull back and just look at him.

His beautiful green eyes are so full of compassion, love, and understanding. Edward's always been such a caring man. Even when we were growing up, he was always a caring and old soul.

I think the old soul part always called to me, because my mom always called me one, too.

"You really are what I've been needing in my life. I've felt so off and incomplete since I left. But, being back here with you, I'm starting to feel whole again." I tell him as I burrow back into the spot under his chin.

"The feeling is mutual." He whispers, kissing my hair.

We stay like that as long as we can before nature forces us to get up.

It started raining during the very early morning hours, so we decided to spend some time just sitting out on the porch on the outdoor loveseat, listening to the rain, my legs in his lap and quietly talking. It's probably the best way I've spent a day, maybe ever.

/-/

I

Do

Not

Want

To

Leave!

I don't.

We're getting to know each other again, and it's gonna be harder doing so when we're apart, again.

But, that old saying, 'distance makes the heart grow fonder' may just turn out to be a good thing.

At least I'm telling myself that to make myself leave later that afternoon so that I can get all my stuff packed back up at my mom's.

"Bells, you've gotta get in the car. If you don't, I'm just gonna drag you back in the house and lock us both away from the world." Edward says as we stand by the garage, both of us wrapped around each other and refusing to let go.

"Don't wanna. I like your idea better." I mumble into his chest, not wanting to move.

He groans and finally pulls away. "I'm trying to be responsible here, and you're making this harder to let you go." He pouts, rubbing his hands up and down my arms.

"I know. But I just got you back. I don't want to lose what we've finally gotten back with each other." I tell him, petulantly.

"Hey." He says, tilting my face up to look at him. 'We won't lose it. We'll make it work. We'll talk on the phone, we'll facetime, skype, whatever we need to do. What's a few more months on top of the handful of years we were already apart?" I look down at that, but he's right. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

I shake my head. "No, no. You're completely right. It's just a few more months compared to the six years I've been gone. It's just… I guess I'm afraid that if I leave, then this will have all just been a dream and it'll just, poof, disappear and I'll be back to the miserable, raging bitch I was when I was back in L.A.." I tell him, flashing back to the fucking Starbucks incident…

I don't want to be back in that place again. Since I've been home, I've been less stressed, less of a bitch, not nearly as irritated with people as I was. I'm also happy. Incredibly happy that I've gotten things with Edward worked out and that we're getting back to where we should've been in the first place.

I just want to be happy again. Being here and back with Edward has made me realize that this is where I wanna be to be happy again.

He grabs my face and kisses me, gently. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll still be here when you come home." My heart jumps a little when he refers to me coming home. Because I can hear that he means more than Charleston. "I love you. I never stopped loving you. So don't worry that I'll disappear on you."

I throw my arms around him once more, holding on for dear life.

"I love you so much." I whisper one last time, before I finally let him go and get in the car.

Backing out of the driveway, I wave at him as he stands there watching me leave.

I wait until I'm on the road back to my mom's to let the tears fall.

A/N: Alrighty kids... things are moving! Next... We're off to parts unknown! At least for Bella.

Leave me some love! I'll see y'all tomorrow!