I'm a fire and I'll keep your brittle heart warm

If your cascade, ocean wave blues come

All these people think love's for show

But I would die for you in secret

~ Taylor Swift, peace

AGE 21

"Don't laugh," I grumbled, straightening the baseball cap on top of my head. I knew I looked ridiculous, what with the cap and the giant sunglasses and the hoodie on top of all of that.

Edward hadn't stopped snickering since I walked out of the bedroom. "Is all of it really necessary?" he questioned, pocketing his phone in his jeans and leaning against the door to my hotel suite.

I had a rare day off of tour. If he hadn't shown up at the show last night, I would have spent the entire day in bed. Instead, we only spent half of the morning in bed before Edward suggested a walk.

A walk. Like I could just leave the hotel and pick up a cup of coffee down the street and stroll through the park. When I assumed he had been joking, a pit of loneliness settled in my stomach when I realized I hadn't done something as normal as going for a walk in a park in a very long time.

So, I put my hair up, slid my ponytail through a random baseball cap, and grabbed the biggest sunglasses I could find.

"If I don't want to get mobbed down the street, yes," I sighed, sliding a pair of well-worn sandals onto my feet. I hesitated, just for a moment. "If you don't want to–"

Edward was already shaking his head. "It's going to take more than a mob to get rid of me, Bella."

Still, a knot of unease twisted in my stomach. "It's just… a lot to put up with."

Edward didn't answer. He grabbed my hand, pressed a kiss to my knuckles, and held the door open for me. He frowned down the hall as we left. "You should have more security."

I shrugged, leaning against the back wall of the elevator. "I do, sometimes. It's annoying, though. Having people hovering all the time."

He tensed, just for a moment, before the elevator doors slid open. His hand was back in mine as he led me through the lobby.

I wasn't entirely sure what city we were in. I was fairly confident it was somewhere in the south. Wherever we were, it was beautiful. The sun was bright, only a few puffy white clouds littered the sky, and the hoodie I was using to cover the tattoos on my arms was already getting to be a little stuffy in the August heat.

Edward braved a busy bakery to get us coffee before we ended up strolling through a quaint little park a few blocks away from the hotel. I pestered him with questions about his college days as we walked. My average schooling experience ended at sixteen, so I was genuinely curious about the college experience.

"You didn't miss much," Edward said as we sat side by side on a park bench in the shade. "You obviously didn't need college."

I shrugged. "Sometimes I think people… look down on me because I didn't go to college. Like I'm stupid or something."

My parents had started pestering me about the future lately. While I had years planned ahead already with projects lined up, for some reason they now thought my career choice wasn't practical. A convenient change of heart after I had paid off all of their debt and bought them the nicest house in Forks.

Edward's hand gripped my chin, twisting my attention up toward him. "You're not stupid, and you don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He must have seen the trepidation I felt in my gut on my face. "You've got more talent in your pinky finger than anyone I've ever met. You've got brands and deals worth more than most people make in a lifetime. You didn't need college to become who you were meant to be. Fuck anyone who says otherwise."

I bit my bottom lip, but nodded. Edward dropped my chin and I crossed my arms over my chest. My fingers rubbed against the cotton of my hoodie, over where the words Things Change were inked into my skin.

I studied the man beside me. He relaxed against the bench, one arm thrown over my shoulders while he nursed his black coffee in the other. Black Ray-Bans covered his eyes, though he wore his sunglasses for a more practical reason than I wore mine.

Career choices aside, Edward was the complete opposite of me. He was calm and collected and confident and obviously didn't give a shit about what anyone else thought. In regards to himself, his choices. Even in the few months I had known him, it was easy to see.

The past few years I had been trained to live my life by the rules of everyone around me. I had been forced into the role of America's Sweetheart by the time I was sixteen and it had nearly driven me mad. Had driven me mad, if you asked one of the many therapists I saw while in rehab.

It was a mindset I had yet to break. That desire to make everyone happy, no matter what, had been rooted in my chest for so long I wasn't sure how to live without it. But as I sat on that bench, Edward's fingers idly twirling my hair, I realized that today was more than a walk in a park.

It was the first time I had done something for myself in a long, long time.

A/N: Chapter 8 will be posted tomorrow – see you then!