Author's Note: I originally started this as a one shot, and then a two chapter one shot, but the more I think about it, the more I want to write it, so I'm going to remove the complete status and keep working on it. Reviews are love.
I woke up the next morning warm and happy in Edward's arms. I hadn't had any nightmares that I could remember for the first time in months. His familiar scent and the sound of his quiet breathing comforted me and made waking up a pleasant experience rather than the previous months of complete emptiness and dread.
He kissed my forehead, then my nose, then my lips. I happily kissed him back, resting a hand on his cheek. He gently brushed my hair out of my face with his hand. "Good morning, my love." he said softly.
"Definitely a good morning." I smiled at him, looking into his dark, still black eyes. "I'm sorry though. I wasn't thinking when I asked you to stay."
"And why is that?" he looked concerned, almost scared of what I might say.
"Because I kept you from hunting. You must be so thirsty." I traced the outline of a shadow under his eye, emphasizing my point.
"I'm alright. I have all I need right here." He said, holding me a little tighter.
"This isn't painful for you? Being so close to me?"
"The only unbearable pain on this Earth is that of being away from you. Everything else is only a minor inconvenience."
"Still, you should go soon."
"Do you want me away from you?"
"No! I mean…" I lowered my voice. "Never. But I don't want you to suffer."
"Suffering is being without you, Bella. I'm only a little uncomfortable. It's alright."
"Couldn't you hunt kind of close to home? Like maybe when I'm making dinner for Charlie or something anyways?"
"Charlie won't be home for dinner tonight. I heard it in his thoughts when he arrived."
"I don't like you being in pain because of me." I said. He looked at me, smiling and about to rebuff. "OK fine, maybe not in pain, but not comfortable." I corrected.
"The family will be arriving home to Forks later…if you'll have us back."
"I would love to see them." I said truthfully.
"Please don't be too upset with them. They only left you because I insisted, rather rudely too. I really owe them all an apology. I thought if they stayed behind that you wouldn't be able to move on and we would just hurt you more."
"I could never move on from you, Edward. If I'm your mate, doesn't that mean you're mine too? I promise, I can't love anyone else even if I wanted to, and I don't. Not ever."
He kissed me slowly, his lips lingering on mine with each movement, and caressed my face in his iron hands. "I never knew that humans mated, but then again I don't know any other human who is aware of vampires." he whispered. "I was naïve, foolish, I had no idea, Bella. I'm so incredibly sorry for hurting you. I'll never forgive myself. I didn't even consider that your feelings would possibly be as intense and as unchanging as mine. Humans fall in and out of love so easily."
"Not this one." I said, putting my hands on his, still on my face. "Only you. It's only ever been you. We're not counting preteen boyband crushes right?"
I smiled. He laughed and it was a welcome sound. "Oh Bella, I missed you so much."
"I missed you too. You need to hunt." I wasn't letting him get out of it.
"I don't want you out of my sight."
"Maybe I can spend some time catching up with Alice tonight? If Charlie won't be home anyways? That way I won't get too lonely and you won't have to worry while you go take care of your needs."
"There are more important needs than blood."
"I know, but please, for me?"
"You know I can't say no to you." he said, kissing me again. My hands found their way into his hair. I had always loved the texture and the chaos of it. I could feel months of heartache dissipating with each touch we shared.
It was a few blissful, perfect minutes before he pulled away. "Charlie is still sleeping off his night shift, but he will notice if you spend all day in bed. Especially if you keep me this distracted. I won't even notice him coming to check on you until it's too late."
"What are you proposing exactly?" I asked. His expression changed a little, a slight spark in his eye.
"Interesting choice of words." he said. I frowned. "I'd love to take you to our meadow, I've missed it so much, but it's a little too cold for my delicate human to be outside today. May I take you out on a date?"
"I'm not sure that I'll be able to keep my hands off you enough to be seen in public today."
He laughed. "Me neither, love. How about a long drive and dinner? Then, we can go see the family when they get home and I'll go for a hunt once I know you're safely with Alice."
"Is she going to talk my ear off about all the shopping she's done?"
"Definitely." he said. I laughed. I had missed them all so much.
"Alright, I'll get dressed." I walked over to my closet and was debating what to wear when I felt Edward's strong arms wrap around me from behind. I jumped a little but smiled when I felt his cool breath tickling the side of my neck.
"I missed you already." he whispered.
"How am I ever going to get dressed like this?" I was too happy to care anyhow.
"You are lovely as is."
"I don't want to greet the family in some old sweatpants."
"Alright, how about this?" he asked, removing one arm from around my waist to grab the sleeve of one of my dark blue sweaters.
I blushed, knowing how much he loved me in anything blue and removed it from the closet, along with a pair of jeans. Edward released me and frowned, staring at my closet floor. There was a pile of discarded CDs and books there, barely concealing the stereo that Emmett and Jasper had gotten me for my disastrous birthday.
"I couldn't enjoy anything without you. Music just reminded me of you…" I was afraid I had made him angry. I tried to suppress my tears. I didn't want him to see me like this. But one single tear betrayed me and ran down my face.
Edward took my face carefully in his hands and kissed me gently, slowly. "It's alright, love. This is my fault too. I have a lot of apologizing to do."
I tried to think of any way to lighten the mood. "Maybe you can start by telling me what you did with the rest of my birthday gifts?"
He smiled a little and sat down in the floor. I looked at him, confused, as he lifted a loose floorboard and reached under it. I sat down beside him and he handed me all of my birthday gifts and photos of us but one, which he held in his hand. "And why is this one folded in half?"
I blushed and looked down at the treasures in my lap, but I couldn't get out of it that easy. "Bella." he insisted. "Is it because one of us is a thousand times more lovely to look at and couldn't possibly compare to the other?"
"Yes." I whispered, shaky.
"Only I believe you are wrong about which one." he answered, lifting my face with his hand to look into my eyes. "You are the most gorgeous creature on this Earth. You are everything to me. Please don't ever doubt that again. I'm sorry that I made you ever doubt it in the first place." I nodded and crawled into his lap, holding him tightly. I knew that it would take time to heal the wounds of being without him, but I was extremely grateful for his presence.
He held me for a few minutes and then stood us up, carefully sitting me on the bed with my gifts beside me. "Would you like a few human minutes to get awake and ready? I'm sure you would rather not run to the house with me to pick up the car."
"We could drive over in my truck. I'm not ready to let you go yet."
"Alright. Then I'll be waiting in the truck to give you a little privacy. I love you." he said, kissing my forehead.
"I love you too."
