Good morning, Loves!

All mistakes are on me.


Eighteen: Edward

August 30, 2022

London, England

I'm exhausted. Bella might have been able to get some sleep on the flight, but I couldn't catch a wink. I had really underestimated how much psychological toll flying from London during the pandemic had taken on me. Even years later, flying just wasn't the same for me.

I look back at Bella, who stretches her arms high over her head as she yawns. "Come on," I say, motioning her toward me. "We have to pick up our luggage."

She drops her arms and grunts.

"I want to be at the hotel already."

I smirk at her.

"I know, but we still have to get our bags and get through customs."

She pouts and I wrap my arm around her shoulders, tugging her forward.

"Is the hotel far from here?"

We're in London for three days before we head up to Cambridge. It isn't far, only an hour or so by train, but I wanted to give Bella time to enjoy the sites and history of London before we settle in to our new apartment.

"No," I tell her, tugging her along. "About forty minutes on the tube."

Bella makes a whining sound in her throat. "Any chance you will carry me?"

I laugh, squeezing my arm around her tighter.

"We'll be there before you know it."

It takes us almost two hours from the time we land until we get to the hotel. Bella is near melting down in her exhaustion, but despite it, she's somehow still trooping through it.

"My feet are itchy," she whispers, leaning against me in the elevator. We're nearly to our room and I lean down to kiss the top of her head.

"We're almost there," I remind her. When Bella is tired, I mean well and truly exhausted, her feet start to itch and she starts to absolutely fall apart. I'm told that it's been this way since she was a baby.

The elevator comes to a stop and we climb off, heading down the corridor to our room. I pull the key out before pushing the door open, letting Bella in first. Immediately, she kicks her shoes off.

I set down our bags, a weariness taking over me. "Can we nap?" She asks. I look at the clock. It's nearly four in the afternoon, just too early to go to bed.

I look at Bella. She's flopped down on the bed, her body starfished across the mattress. "We should try to stay awake," I say through a yawn. She glances at me from the bed. "It'll make it easier on us if we can sleep through the night."

"Babe, what makes you think I won't sleep through the next fifteen hours?"

She has a point. Bella loves her sleep.

"Let's get some food," I tell her. "Then we'll sleep."

She glances across the room. "Room service?"

Another yawn escapes my mouth and I nod. "Yeah," I agree. "Let's do that."

I grab the menu off the desk, bringing it over to her. She looks it over, then grins before handing it back to me.

"Nachos and beer."

God, I love this woman.

I call down the order before turning to Bella. "Will you stay awake on your own while I take a shower?"

She grins at me from her spot on the bed. "No," she giggles, and she sounds drunk and sleepy at the same time. "But I bet you could keep me up if we shower together."

I laugh. I'm way too fucking tired to navigate shower sex, and I think she is too, but it's always hard to tell with Bella.

I haul her up off the bed, and pull her up into my arms. "I can't carry you," I warn. "I'm too fucking tired."

Bella giggles. "This is the only time I might be in agreement," she says through a yawn. "Let's just wash this day off us."

She turns to our bags pulling them open and I head into the bathroom to turn on the shower.

I strip down as Bella joins me with our toiletry bags.

"I'm too tired to get all turned on," she whines, plopping our things on the counter. I laugh as I reach into the shower to test the water.

"We need to be quick. Dinner will be up here soon."

Bella nods, and we both climb under the spray. We don't linger in the shower, both of us truly too wiped out.

There is a knock on the door just as I'm slipping my sweats on. I make sure Bella is in the bathroom with the door shut before I go to open it. The kid delivering our food nods to me, handing off the tray as I slip him the tip.

I bring our food in just as Bella opens the door to the bathroom, fully naked, hair wrapped up in a towel.

"Babe," I cough, making sure the door is actually closed. She seems hardly fazed as she strolls into the room.

I huff, trying not to let myself get caught up watching her ass. She pulls on a shirt as I set the tray on our bed.

We settle in, grabbing the TV remote and flipping through random and confusing British sitcoms while we chow down on nachos.

It's comforting, being with her like this here. We may be in a hotel, we may be in a new country, far from everyone we know, but at the end of the day it's us. It's always us.


The kids have officially made it to the UK! We'll start to get a few time jumps again, so be sure to check in at the beginning of chapters about where we're at. See you loves tomorrow!