*BPOV*
While Hanover claimed more sunny days than Forks did, it wasn't usually until past noon that the sun was able to burn through the overcast mornings.
Our class schedules were carefully planned so that Edward would only be on campus for the earliest part of the morning, and the other courses he would attend online.
On the first day of classes, I roused to Edward gently shaking me awake. It was earlier than I was used to being up after having such a leisurely summer of sleeping as late as I wanted in the cool embrace of my husband.
"Time to get up, love. It's a big day!" Edward's velvety voice crooned in my ear.
I screwed my eyes shut, holding on to the last remnants of sleep. A deep, soft chuckle rumbled out of his chest, the vibrations tickling the side of my face.
One of his hands stroked the length of my spine over the sheet with long, languorous strokes.
Another gentle shake. "Wake up sleepyhead. Don't want to be late on our first day!" he said cheerfully.
Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I grumbled. "A vampire is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to."
"If you're quoting Tolkien before you've even opened your eyes, then your butt definitely needs to be in class," Edward teased.
I threw the heavy comforter off of my legs, and stood up, looking at Edward for the first time. He was already showered and neatly dressed in a grayish-blue button-up with rolled-up sleeves worn open over a crisp white t-shirt and navy blue slacks.
"Keep looking at me like that, Mrs. Cullen, and we're definitely going to be late," he smirked.
I blushed and sighed. "I don't think I'm ever going to get over how hot you are."
He looked like he would have blushed if he could. "I fervently hope not."
Knowing I didn't like to be kissed until I had a chance to brush my teeth, Edward waited until I returned from the bathroom to hop lightly out of bed and greet me just outside the door.
He took my face between his hands and kissed me until I was dizzy with the intoxicating taste of him. "Esme will have breakfast ready for you in an hour. Meet you there?" Edward nodded west toward the main house.
"That's so sweet of her. I'll try not to get lost," I said in jest. The 15-room manse was hard to miss.
Edward smiled and stroked the side of my face with the back of his hand one last time before he disappeared out of the patio doors and left me to my ritual human hour.
*EPOV*
Having the hour to kill, I went to see Carlisle, whom I hadn't had a chance to catch up with since getting into town.
Uncertain which room he chose as his new office, I followed his thoughts upstairs to the western wing of the sprawling home.
His door was open, as it always was, and though I knew he could hear and smell me coming, I knocked on the door anyway out of courtesy.
Carlisle looked up from the medical journal he was paging through. "Edward, good morning! I didn't expect to see you quite so early. How are you and Bella settling in?"
"Starting to iron out our new daily routine, but hitting our stride, I think. How are you liking your new position at the hospital?" I asked, pulling up a chair opposite his desk.
Carlisle blew out an uncharacteristically frustrated breath, inadvertently fluttering the pages of his medical journal.
"The first week always has its challenges. It'll be better once some of the nurses settle down," he said somewhat ruefully.
I nodded in understanding. Every new hospital Carlisle worked for, he was greeted with the same slack-jawed admiration from a great many of the women he worked with, whether they were nurses or resident physicians, interns or cafeteria ladies.
And they weren't always women, either.
It had become something of a tradition for him to be seen having lunch with Esme every day for the first week or two until the message became clear that he was a happily married man. But sometimes that didn't even help.
"I can empathize," I said truthfully.
Starting a new school was always very draining because people were extra aware of us then, which meant we had to be extra careful.
The brave ones would come forward wanting to be study partners. The boldest, like Jessica Stanley, didn't bother to beat around the bush.
High school boys were almost always way too intimidated by Alice and Rosalie to approach them, and besides, Emmett and Jasper were always nearby.
But up until recently, I had always been the odd man out. The single one. The approachable one.
"Forgive me, Edward. That was horribly insensitive of me to complain. I can't even fathom how much worse it would be if I could also hear their thoughts," Carlisle said with a horrified expression.
"No need, Carlisle. I have the benefit of my brothers and sisters which keep most people at a distance. I can imagine how much worse it would be to be..." I laughed once, "fed to the sharks."
Thinking out loud, I mused, "It's probably for the best that Bella didn't want to take classes together at Dartmouth...
"The next time we have to go back to high school, I'll have Bella with me. And to be honest, I'm not sure if it will be better or worse, because then I'll have to hear all the bawdy adolescent fantasies about my wife-or worse- the thoughts of her male teachers while pretending to hear nothing...and acting merely as her boyfriend."
Imagining that, Carlisle and I recoiled at the same time.
"It's not always such a gift, is it?" Carlisle asked rhetorically. "If I had to hear somebody's every thought, I probably wouldn't have much interest in romance, either. I'm not sure a romantic relationship could survive that.
My wife's smiling face appeared in Carlisle's thoughts. "What a blessing it was that you found such a perfectly complementary mate as Bella."
"Like finding a unicorn in a sea of horses," I nodded emphatically.
"Where is she anyway? I'm surprised to see you alone. You two are usually attached at the hip," Carlisle smiled broadly.
His thoughts were devoid of criticism. Nothing made him happier than to see me so head-over-heels in love.
"It's human hour," I explained to Carlisle's uncomprehending face. "Bella prefers to go through her morning routine in private," I elaborated.
"Ahh, I see. Well, that makes perfect sense," Carlisle's face smoothed out in understanding.
"It does? To be honest, it makes me a little nuts that she should feel so self-conscious around me...
"She's my wife. I love her unconditionally. She's a beautiful, healthy human being. What could Bella possibly have to feel self-conscious about?"
Carlisle looked at me like he thought I was being a little bit thick.
"In a word: everything. She's a teenager, Edward," he said as if that explained everything.
Carlisle put on his doctor's face. "Teenage girls rival even you in the self-loathing department, Edward.
"They're conditioned by the media to hate everything about their bodies. They have low self-esteem. They starve themselves to be thin. They self-harm...
"...They are easily manipulated into staying in abusive relationships. And the internet has made it easier than ever for them to be preyed upon by pedophiles and human trafficking rings.
"Teenage girls are easily one of the most vulnerable categories of patients I care for...That Bella even made it to the age of 18 as a virgin without first being the victim of sexual assault is...statistically significant," Carlisle's face was grim.
I growled involuntarily as Carlisle remembered the face of Bella's would-be rapist from Port Angeles.
Carlisle had personally incapacitated and delivered him across the border to the Oregon state police so that Bella could be spared the news of his arrest, and particularly his rap sheet.
I compared Bella to the list of tragedies he described and was disturbed by how many of those boxes she checked.
Bella had zero sense of self-worth. In my absence, she'd malnourished herself to the point of emaciation right before she jumped off a cliff.
God only knew in how many ways Jacob had manipulated her, and if I was being excruciatingly honest with myself-he hadn't been the only one.
Not to mention the chilling fact that she would've been the victim of a grisly sexual assault had I not intervened that night in Port Angeles.
I frowned. "So how do I empower her to value herself more and to take better care of herself?"
Carlisle smiled his patient smile. "It starts with respecting her boundaries, son. That is something that is going to take some restraint on your part."
He saw the confusion on my face. When had I ever not shown restraint? Her very life was proof of that. I was the king, no, the emperor of restraint.
"That's not what I mean," he shook his head, then played a mental reel of the times he'd witnessed me physically overpower Bella as if it were nothing.
Covering Bella's mouth with my hand to silence her. Forcing her to look at me when she spoke. Picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder like a literal caveman. The time I'd yelled in her face after the family had voted for her to join the family as an immortal.
I winced and swallowed thickly at the lump of revulsion growing in the back of my throat.
In the near-century that I'd known Carlisle, I'd never heard him so much as raise his voice to Esme, much less manhandle her.
After the violent abuse she'd been victim to at the hands of her first husband, Carlisle had made certain of that.
I'd modeled my behavior after my father, but it would seem I fell much shorter of the mark than I'd realized. Shame coursed through me at the knowledge.
"This is an instance when you can learn from Emmett. Emmett has had to work harder than any of us to control his strength, and if he'd tried any one of those maneuvers on Rosalie, stubborn as she may be, she would have had his guts for garters." Carlisle mused with a wry smile.
His thoughts held great admiration for my sister's strength and resilience.
"Bella doesn't have the ability to defend herself from you in the way that Rose has always had with Emmett, or Alice with Jasper, so it's even more crucial that every touch be consensual. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
I nodded gravely, unwilling to meet his eyes.
"Edward, please don't think I'm judging you," Carlisle's voice was kind. "You are so new to this kind of love...
"Your brothers and I have had decades to learn what it means to be a good partner. None of us are without faults, and none of us had the added complication of courting a human."
"How do I...How am I supposed to go meet her for breakfast in a few minutes and put on a smile for her first day of college when I feel like the world's biggest cad?"
"Find the will, son. You'll only feel worse if you let your feelings spoil her day."
*BPOV*
"I hope you're hungry!" Esme beamed, setting a stack of pancakes in front of me a foot high. There was also a pile of bacon, fresh fruit salad, and a tall glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice.
"Esme, this looks wonderful, but you do too much! You are going to spoil me!" I said, pouring maple syrup over the tower of hot, fluffy pancakes.
She'd even bought the good stuff from Vermont, not the maple-flavored corn syrup in a granny-shaped bottle that I was used to seeing at Charlie's.
"You're the baby of the family now, and that's my prerogative," Esme smiled unapologetically.
It wasn't easy for me to allow myself to be doted upon, but the look of sheer pleasure on Esme's face made it impossible to object.
I looked to the empty barstool next to me and wondered where Edward was. It was very unlike him to be late.
As if summoned, Edward strode in through the door; his face was serene. I immediately relaxed.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, love. I got caught up in conversation with Carlisle," he smiled and kissed the top of my head before he slid into the stool next to me. "He apologizes for not being able to join us this morning, but he had to head out to the hospital."
I nodded in understanding, unable to speak with a mouth full of pancakes,
Esme tapped her chin, deep in thought.
Just then Alice breezed through the door with Jasper in tow. "The blue Chanel dress," she blurted as if that should mean something to me. Esme pointed at Alice from across the room with a wide smile and answered back, "Thanks! I thought so, too!"
Next to me, Edward could only be described as giggling, hiding his smile behind a balled-up fist.
"What did I miss?" I asked, truly puzzled.
"You and me both, Bella," Jasper drawled as he met my bewildered eyes with an expression of amusement mixed with exasperation.
Edward leaned a few inches closer to me and explained, "Esme was wondering what hot wifey outfit she should wear to intimidate Carlisle's admirers at the hospital. It's sort of a recurring problem when we start over in a new place."
My eyes widened. Admirers at every new place?! I gulped. Well, that seemed all too obvious now that I thought about it. I had been an admirer, after all, before I somehow got lucky enough to keep them.
Though, now I was not feeling very "Dartmouth material" about my decision to take classes separate from Edward. I knew if I was going to succeed here, I needed to be free of distractions while I attended my classes.
But now Edward, in all his perfection, would be playing his entrancing music for other music students to swoon over while I was off studying iambic pentameter in a completely different building.
I thought about asking Alice to help me pick out some hot wifey clothes, too.
Edward groaned next to me, and then his velvety voice was in my ear. "Bella, if you don't mind, I'd much rather I didn't have to see you in the thoughts of every frat boy on campus," he said, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind my ear before kissing me on the corner of my jaw.
I looked between Alice and Edward.
"So I can't plan something without you seeing it? And if you see it, he hears it?... Wow, that's going to get annoying," I said, stuffing another bite of pancake into my mouth to the uproarious laughter of my new family. I even heard Emmett's booming guffaws from wherever he was.
Jasper, still chuckling, put an affectionate arm around Alice and pulled her close. "Welcome to a day in the life of a Cullen, Bella."
*EPOV*
I could scarcely remember a time that I'd felt more thankful for Alice's gift than I did sitting at the kitchen island laughing with my family.
As truly loathsome as I felt about the nature of the conversation that had taken place in Carlisle's office, I knew he had been right that I needed to somehow tamp down the feelings of guilt and inadequacy I was stewing in so that I didn't spoil Bella's day today. She would only get one first day of college.
So I would flagellate myself about that later, but right now I would smile and be a dutiful husband that would take my wife to school and wish her luck on her first day because that's what she needed from me.
"You about ready to go?" I asked Bella, as she swallowed the last gulp of her juice. She nodded and took her dishes to the sink before Esme could trouble herself. "Thanks again, Esme, that was spectacular!"
"It was my pleasure, dear. Have a great first day!"
Bella reached for her book bag on the floor, but I beat her to it. Swinging it over my shoulder, I reached for Bella's hand and we headed for my car.
After she was all buckled in, I put her book bag in the trunk, taking a moment to hide a small surprise inside for her to find later.
It was a quiet ride to campus. I could feel Bella's nervous excitement as she fidgeted in her seat. She flipped through the radio station presets twice before she gave up and switched the stereo off.
I pulled smoothly into a narrow space in the shade of a gnarled old oak tree on a side street behind the language arts buildings. Another surprisingly helpful perk of being a mind reader meant always being in the right place at the right time to score convenient parking.
When we had arrived at the front doors of Sanborn house, now bustling with students and faculty coming and going, I lightly hooked the strap of her book bag over her shoulder and kissed her sweetly goodbye.
I sighed, hating to walk away from her. Just before I turned to leave, I thought of an apropos parting quote:
"Love goes toward love as school-boys from their books, But love from love, toward school with heavy looks."
Applause broke out from a middle-aged man who had been passing by, obviously a professor by the looks of the patches on the elbows of his brown blazer.
"Bravo, Romeo! But you're going the wrong way if you're registered for my Shakespeare lecture."
"Afraid not, professor! Just a big fan," I grinned. Then to Bella, "Have a great class, love."
She waved goodbye and then was swept up in a group of students hurrying through the doors of the building.
*BPOV*
I took a seat near the front of the room when the same blazered professor strolled in through the doors, setting an aged leather briefcase on the instructor's desk at the front of the class.
Professor Chaney wrote his name on the whiteboard and went through the administrative tasks of handing out the course syllabus and taking attendance. When he called my name, I shyly raised my hand and said "present."
The professor met my gaze and smiled in recognition, his salt and pepper beard stretching over his broad chin.
"There must be some mistake because Juliet Capulet isn't anywhere on my roster," he winked at me before moving on to the next student down his list.
I smiled to myself, already starting to like the man, and reached into my bag to pull out a notebook and pen. Setting the first notebook I grabbed on my desk, I realized right away that it didn't look familiar.
It was a simple Dartmouth College notebook that could be purchased from the campus bookstore. On the cover, scripted in his instantly recognizable calligraphy were doodles by Edward.
Edward 💗 Bella
Mr. & Mrs. Cullen
Edward & Bella Cullen
And on the inside cover was a note:
I'll be thinking of your face with every note that I play
Study hard, my love, Shakespeare had a lot to say
I hope you're still taking good care of my heart
I'll meet you after class by the coffee cart
Eternally,
Your Edward
And just like that, I was once more just a girl with a crush on a beautiful boy at my new school.