Hello again everyone! I am terribly sorry for the wait—I truly am. But it was only because I wanted to provide a well-paced, satisfying conclusion for this story. I've struggled in the past with rushing my endings, and I did not want to do that with Undertow. So, I wrote the ending all at once so I could make sure all the threads wove together neatly before I tied them up. I am also sharing the ending all at once because I don't want to leave you hanging anymore than I already have.

3 chapters will be posted tonight, and 3 tomorrow. Then, in the epilogue in a week or 2.

Before we start off with our conclusion, I want to remind everyone that this story will end with an ExB HEA. Trust me.

There was nothing I wanted to do other than sit out on my balcony and stare out at the ocean, like an old sailor's wife waiting for her husband to return from sea. It was pathetic. It was still pathetic after I brought a book out with me under the guise of a quiet reading spot, because between every other word, I looked up from the book to scan the horizon for a human silhouette off in the water.

My phone didn't want me to spend my first day of summer as a widowed waif because from my spot outside, I heard it continuously ping from where I kept it on my nightstand. It was usually safe to ignore my phone when it went off like that. My family was downstairs, Angela wasn't the multiple-text kind of person, and my girlfriend didn't own a phone. Other than those few people, no one needed my attention that desperately. Most likely, it was the group chat with my siblings going off about something our parents did.

I eventually left my spot on the balcony to get my phone, with the intention to switch it to silent mode rather than read any of the messages. I had never been a huge fan of my phone, and usually left it at home in its drawer despite its purpose. The only reason I had a smartphone at all was because my previous foster mom, Renee, claimed if we weren't sharing our locations with one another, she wouldn't be able to breathe.

At a quick glance, I was surprised to see most of the messages were for Angela after all, along with a single email from the coffee shop I had applied to. I deemed the email more important than Angela and read it first. They reviewed my application and requested an interview as soon as possible. Only after I responded that I could interview that day did I worry if I came off as desperate. If I did, they were just as desperate, because I received a response right away asking me to confirm an interview at one o-clock.

Once that was taken care of, I checked my messages from Angela, smiling fondly as she excitedly told me about her own interview and demanded the same information from me. Hers came and went that morning—thus the onslaught of texts—and she had been offered the job. I congratulated her and promised her updates as soon as I had them.

There was time to squeeze in a run before I had to be out the door. After I ran, showered, and changed, I grabbed a cereal box from the top of the pantry, planning to eat handfuls of dry cereal on the drive over.

"Going to meet Bella?" Esme's voice caught me off guard, causing me to drop the box of cereal on the ground.

I froze and spun. My mother sat in the breakfast nook. There was a half-eaten sandwich in front of her and a half-read book in her hand. Her glasses slid down the bridge of her nose as she waited for my answer.

I could nod my head and save myself whatever emotional outburst was awaiting me. But I lied to my adopted mother too much as it was, and there was no reason to deny her the truth, but to save a few minutes.

"I'm actually heading to the coffee shop. I—um—have a job interview."

I expected many reactions out of my mother—all of which involved squeals of delight, cheek kisses, and a squeeze or two. What I didn't expect was tears to well up in her eyes and her hand to fly up to cover her trembling lip.

I was immediately horrified, "Mom?" I took three large steps to close the distance between us. She stood as I approached, reaching up to place her hands on my face.

The tears spilled over. "I was so worried that I found you too late, and that you would be miserable and resentful and hate me. But you're here and you…you…" She paused, sniffled, and sputtered. "You get along with your siblings! You found a girlfriend to love! You're starting a career!" Starting a career was a bit of a stretch, but I let her get it all out, uninterrupted. "I am just so happy you found your place with this family so quickly."

"It's all because of you, Mom," I offered, hoping to speed this up. Otherwise, I was going to be late.

She stroked my cheeks with her thumbs, "Oh! If it wasn't for me, you would have been homeless!" She gripped her wrist behind my neck and pulled me down for a hug. "You would have never had a family! You would have never fallen in love!"

Again, I left the hyperboles alone. "I know."

"My sweet boy." Her grip only tightened.

"Dad!" I cried out into the house, hoping he could relieve me.

Carlisle swung into the room. His eyes immediately locked on his sobbing wife.

"Esme, darling," he cooed while gently extracting me. Once his body was closer to hers than mine, Esme latched onto him, like a parasite who fed off affection. My father and I shared a small smile, weak with concern. He nodded, silently letting me know he had it handled. I slipped out the back door. Out of the splash zone of Esme's tears, I shook my head in shock. I knew it was already an emotional weekend for Esme with Rosalie's graduation. I should have known better than to throw any more life changes at her.

Even with the strange, emotional detour, I made it to my interview with three minutes to spare. The barista manning the counter guessed my question the second I opened my mouth. He pointed to a table near the back of the shop where two women sat on the same side of the table, presumably awaiting their interviewee. I had seen them working the counter in the past. Both wore denim overalls and had their blonde hair tied up into a bun on the top of their head secured with a bandana. Seeing them right next to each for the first time, I realized they could be sisters.

When they spotted me awkwardly lingering near the chair across from them, they stood to greet me.

"Edward Cullen?" the one of the left asked, to which I nodded.

"Iced latte," the other recalled my typical order as she shook my hand.

"That's me." I hoped my smile was charming and not at all nervous.

The girls introduced themselves as Allison and Ashlie, the owners of the shop and—like I guessed—sisters. The interview was standard. Discussing past job experience. Listing my attributes. Coming up with solutions to their customer-related scenarios.

"It says that you speak sign language," Ashlie read from my application, as we reached the end.

"Really?" Allison grabbed the sheet of paper from her sister's hand to read it for herself. "That's so crazy. Our last applicant spoke it too."

"Angela," I nodded. "She was actually the one who taught me."

"Did you learn it for a family member, like Angela?" Allison asked.

"Nope. Just wanted to learn it, I guess."

Ashlie smirked, "Are you sure it wasn't for that pretty deaf girl I see you in here with?"

I balked, unsure of how to respond.

"Sorry," she scrunched her face, realizing she had overstepped. "That was rude. You were right to keep it vague."

Feeling my ears turn red, I tried to smooth my expression. "No, it's fine," I swallowed. "She can't speak. And, yes, I learned it so I could talk to her."

"Who is this?" Allison asked. Looking back and forth between her sister and me.

"The little brunette girl. The one you said had mermaid hair."

I choked on my spit at the mention of the word. Both sisters eyed me questionably, but resumed their conversation when they confirmed I was still breathing.

"Oh! Sweet cream cold brew." Allison recalled, then blinked. "She almost never finishes her drink."

I wasn't thrilled that Bella's odd habits were noticeable to even complete strangers. I came up with an excuse one of my foster moms used when her husband asked her why she always brought avocados when she never ate them. "Yeah, she doesn't really like coffee, but she wants to. Every day, she thinks she'll magically enjoy it this time."

Both girls giggled, with fond understanding.

"Well, Edward if you don't mind a bit of gossip," Allison glanced at her sister, sharply, "we would love to have you join our team."

"I can handle gossip. I have two sisters," I said, earning a laugh from them both.

"Good."

We stood, simultaneously. Allison rattled off a few more instructions, which she promised to follow up with an email as a reminder before they both shook my hand and sent me on my way.

And with that, I had a summer job.

Back at home, I went straight up to my room, hoping to both avoid Esme and find Bella. It had been over a day since I had last seen her, and I desperately missed her. My room was tragically void of any mermaids. Before I gave up hope and returned to the life of a waif, I decided to check Alice's room. I found Bella in there once or twice in the past, listening to Alice complain or letting Alice paint her toenails. Alice's room was dark, suggesting that she wasn't inside despite her pretty, yellow Porche in the driveway. As I turned to leave, I spotted movement through the glass door that led to her balcony. I walked through the room, hoping to find Bella out there with my sister. Alice sat on the ground, her legs poking through the bars of the railing, dangling below. Her forehead rested on the bars. The sound of the sliding door startled her, but she didn't move. There was still no Bella, and I tried my best not to let that fact dampen my mood too much.

"You can't barge into people's private bedrooms, Edward."

"You barge into mine all the time."

"You're a boy."

I wasn't sure if that meant I wasn't a person, therefore her rule did not apply to me, or if it meant no rules mattered to boys. Regardless, I barged into her room for a reason. "Have you seen Bella?"

"Oh, she hasn't fitted you for a leash yet?"

"Hilarious, Alice." My sister was convinced that wanting to spend all her time with me made Bella some sort of dangerous, predatory, control freak. I had to admit, Bella's recent clinginess had reached a point where it became intolerable, but that was officially a thing of the past. "We actually moved past that, thank you very much," I bristled. "A little communication goes a long way."

"No amount of communication is going to change what she is."

Out of all the teasing I had been on the receiving end of, I had never heard so much frost in my sister's tone. It was downright chilly. I expected that tone of voice from Rosalie, but never from Alice. I double-checked I was talking to the correct sister.

"I'm just trying to find Bella. What's your problem?"

"If you're unable to handle simple statements about your relationship, that sounds like your personal problem."

As I thought up a decent come-back, I noticed that the tip of Alice's nose was red for the first time. In fact, all her coloring was slightly off. I thought of all the reasons my typically boisterous, social-butterfly sister would be sitting alone in her dark room on a bright, summer afternoon. Then, I remembered her paled expression when Rosalie brought up Jasper's name and how she'd been avoiding him.

"Alice?" I whispered, as I lowered to the ground beside her.

Her eyes flickered to meet mine. In the brief second of contact, I saw red rims and a glassy sheen—confirming my suspicions.

She tried to add the ice back into her voice, but it melted with my nearness. "What?"

"What happened?"

It didn't seem like Alice was going to talk. We sat in silence for a long time until, finally, she wiped her nose on the sleeve of her hoodie. "We went public," Alice shook her head, as if she was admitting a grave mistake. "Our counselor told us if we thought what we had was something to hide, we shouldn't be doing it. We weren't sure what to do at first, but when I told Jasper all about your advice that our love is more important than any whispers and side-eyed glances, he liked that. So, we went out. On a real, actual date. We picked our favorite restaurant. The tapas-style place that has all the art on the wall you can purchase."

I knew the place. I was certain I also knew where this story was headed, but I asked anyway. "Then what happened?"

"The date was going super great. It felt right to be out together as a couple." I felt the but coming from a mile away. "But, then some of his friends from class showed up and spotted us. They came over to our table to say hi and asked what we were doing out. I told them the truth: we were out on a date. Then, his friends all turned to stare at Jasper in what could only be described as horror." She shut her eyes in shame, "He looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him whole."

"Oh, Alice," I sympathized.

Eyes still closed, she continued, "I tried to explain to his friends what I had explained to you and Esme and everyone else, that we weren't really siblings, but all that did was turn their horror into disgust. Until one of them laughed, threw Jasper a punch on the arm, and said, 'you got us!'." The story stopped for a moment as she sniffled, "He thought we were a joke, Edward."

My voice was the smallest whisper, "I'm so sorry."

"Worse than anything else in the world, Jasper laughed it off with them. Pretended we were a joke. We joined them at a bigger table, then. Finished our date with his friends. On the drive home, Jasper said we should be happy they gave us such an easy out. And that was that."

"What do you mean 'that was that'? What are you going to do?"

"Nothing. It's over. It's done."

"You don't mean that."

"Okay, Edward." The frost from earlier had returned. It seemed that if Alice wasn't going to be sad, she would be mad, instead. "What would you have me do?"

I tried to imagine myself and Bella in their place. What I would do if Bella had laughed our relationship away in front of her sisters out of shame. Even the hypothetical stung; I felt for Alice. "Well, you can talk to Jasper… understand what he was thinking…"

"He was embarrassed!" she exclaimed. She stuck her hands out in front of her, then shoved them through her hair. "God, Edward. There's nothing to understand. There's nothing to communicate. It was wrong for us to ever try, and Jasper was smart enough to see that first."

"Then, why..?"

Alice spoke plainly, as if she were teaching a lesson to a very slow child. "I'm not upset because it's over. I'm upset because Jasper's right."

"No!" Jasper and his friends were absolutely in the wrong in this scenario. I would never let Bella bend to her sister's opinions like Alice was allowing Jasper to do. "You need to tell him what he means to you. Tell him that he needs to man up and…"

Alice interrupted me. "To what end?"

I scrambled to think of something that would help her understand what I was trying to say. "Remember when I told you about my friends, Ben and Angela? And the reason why Ben was too scared to ask out Angela?"

"Because he was shorter than her?" she guessed.

"Yeah! You agreed that it was ridiculous to not be with someone for something so trivial."

Alice thought for a second but slumped back down. "It was probably the right call. I mean, what's the point if they were going to have to justify their relationship to everyone else?"

"Because they shouldn't have to justify it! And you shouldn't have to, either! You were furious when I was skeptical about you and Jasper! What happened to that Alice? That fire?"

"She woke up from that dream."

"No! She gave up. You can't do that, Alice."

"I want to."

"I don't believe you! You love him."

"God, Edward!" she turned on me, furious. "Being in love doesn't give you a free pass to do whatever you want! The fact that I love Jasper doesn't mean he wasn't my foster brother, first. Your friend Ben loving Angela won't save them from being ridiculed. And you know what? Your love for Bella doesn't mean she isn't a dangerous creature you know nothing about!"

I couldn't believe she would stoop so low as to bring Bella into this. "I know everything about her!"

"Then, where is she right now?" I had no response to offer. Alice scoffed. "Yeah, exactly."

"I don't need to know where she is at all times…"

"I'm not saying you do, but I am saying it's crazy that you have absolutely no idea. When I was with Jasper, I had at least a vague idea of what he was doing and when he would be back. You live on her whims. What do you think she's doing out there?" Alice gestured openly to the sea.

I wondered a million times what Bella did out in the water when we were apart. She never talked about it, but that barely meant anything. I never told her about what I ate and when I slept.

"I trust her."

"Well, I trusted Jasper." Turning back out to the vista before her, Alice tucked her knees into the chest, "and look where that got me."

It didn't look like I was going to get anywhere with my sister. Fine. If she wanted to remain angry and miserable, that was on her. Without looking back, I stormed out of Alice's room and back down the hall towards mine. It didn't matter what Alice thought. She was wrong. She was wrong about Bella. She was wrong for giving up on Jasper.

I was still fuming when I shoved open my bedroom door and flipped on the lights. When I looked up, all my frustration and anger dissipated. Sitting in the middle of my bed, with her legs tucked into her chest and her chin resting on her knees, was Bella.

"Hey," I breathed. Her answering smile was dazzling. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see you."

She crawled to the edge of the bed while I stepped across the room. I leaned down for a hug, but in a too-fast, too-graceful motion for my clumsy girlfriend, Bella had me on my back. She straddled my hips and crushed her lips to mine. Before I could fully catch up, the buttons on my shirt were unfastened. Her soft hands splayed across my chest possessively.

"Woah, woah, woah," I broke the kiss and struggled to sit up.

With hungry eyes under an angry brow and swollen lips set in a frown, Bella climbed off me. If she could speak, I was sure she would be cursing. The only thing saving me from her wrath was the fact that her hands gripped the waistband on my jeans instead of signing her thoughts.

"You look pretty today," I said, breathlessly. "How are you?"

Her head tilted to the side, not sure what to make of my seemingly random question. I took her hands from my pants and held them in mine. "I missed you."

The lustful gaze softened into something a bit more loving as she smiled fondly. She took her hands from mine and ran one hand through my hair before she signed, "I'm good. I missed you, too."

I scooted up the bed so my back could rest against the headboard and held my arms open for her to join. She crawled over and sat beside me. The heat of passion simmered into the warmth of comfort as she snuggled into my side. At her prompting, I caught her up, telling her about my dinner with the family last night and my job interview. I left off the part about Alice's breakup. My chest still hurt from seeing the pain in my sister's eyes and I didn't think I could talk about it without tearing up myself.

Instead, I turned the conversation to Bella, "Did you spend all day on Charlie's boat?"

She shook her head. "I saw my sisters."

My heart audibly skipped a beat. The last time Bella saw her sisters, they baited her into lashing out at one of them and left her bleeding and barely conscious. I tried to remain as calm as Bella seemed to be. "Are you okay?"

It wasn't until she nodded that my heart restarted.

"They're leaving."

"Is that a good thing?" Suddenly, I found myself unsure of what ground we stood on with her sisters.

Instead of signing a response, Bella's hands flew up and covered her face.

"Oh no," I muttered. I didn't think I could handle any more tears from the women in my life. I wrapped my hands around her wrists, trying to pry them away as gently as I could. "What did they say to you?"

Face still hidden, she shook her head.

"Bella," I moaned, too drained for guessing games.

She shook her head again, this time to ground herself. When she removed her hands from her face, her cheeks were dry. I helped her wipe away the tears before they fell. "They just remind me of what I am. That's all."

"You're nothing like them," I assured her, rubbing hands my up and down her arm.

"We're the same species."

"So? Douchebag Ponytail and I are both humans. Do you think we're the same?"

"It's different."

"No, it isn't," I kissed the tip of her nose lightly.

"Would you still love me if I were a monster?"

"Absolutely. I would bend to your evil will. I would bring you mortals to feast upon myself. I would do your bidding in the hope of earning a single kiss from my beautiful mistress."

She wasn't amused. "Be serious, Edward."

"Why? You aren't a monster like your sisters, Bella. You know that."

"Just answer the question."

With a deep sigh, I tried to think of what to say that would be comforting, honest, and knock some sense into her. "If you were a mindless killer like your sisters, no. I wouldn't love you. If I had found you while you were still adapting to your new life and diet, I might have needed some time, but I might have grown to love you."

Her face drooped.

I sighed again. "See? This is why it's not worth discussing." I gathered her up and gave her a squeeze. "I love you right now, just as you are. That's all that matters"

She sulked, clearly not receiving what she wanted from the conversation. Either that, or she didn't know what she wanted in the first place. It was time for a shift in conversation. "Guess what I read last night."

Bella quirked her head like a bird. I gestured to her period romance book sitting on my bedside table. She crawled over me to read the cover and turned to me with a look of surprise and absolute elation. I laughed at her delight.

"Did you like it?"

"Believe it or not, I actually did."

As the sun set over the sea, Bella and I remained curled in bed. We discussed our favorite parts of the book, and why we liked it more or less than other books we've read. Talking quieted into kissing. Kissing burned slowly into more.

When I woke up the next morning, Bella was still on her back, right where I'd left her. Right as I got out of bed, she grabbed my arm, silently asking me to return.

"I have to go to work, Sweetheart."

She blinked sleepily. I chuckled. "I told you about it yesterday."

Over-emphasizing her reluctance, she let go of my arm.

She was too cute to walk away from just yet. I threw her a line. "I'm going to shower. Do you think I need help shaving?" I asked. She liked catching the spots I missed almost as much as I liked her hands on my face.

She traced her littlest finger down my jawline.

"Come on, now. You know how patchy it comes in. Get in there."

Grinning, she reached both hands up and rubbed them all over my face.

"Do I need help?" I repeated.

She gave one, affirmative nod.

"Alright. I'll see you in there."