DISCLAIMER:You know the drill. Twilight is not mine, but this story certainly is.

A/N: Hello! Thank you so much for all your reviews last chapter that made the total count go past 200. It's a milestone for me and I'm so happy that you guys liked it! The consensus was- Edward, snap out of the daze already and kiss the girl!

Duly noted ;)

I'll just thank Dazzled Eyes22 and Melissa quickly and let you get on with the reading.

CHAPTER 10

Bella's lips were soft yet insistent and mine followed her lead of their own accord.

Slowly, her words percolated through my head. My neurons finally came out of whatever sort of hibernation they'd been in and the jumbled mush turned into sentences that I could decipher.

The realization that she wanted a relationship with me hit me like a tidal wave and left in its wake the kind of happiness that I hadn't felt in a really long time.

I wrapped my arms tight around her waist, lifting her above the ground and deepened the kiss. A moan slipped past her lips as I suckled her plump lower lip into my mouth, nipping it gently and soothing the bite with my tongue. Her hands came up to tangle in my hair, and I hissed into her mouth as they scratched my scalp.

My hands roamed over the expanse of her back, just the thin fabric of the scrubs keeping me away from the warmth of her skin.

It was the sound of a throat clearing that brought me back to my senses, and it seemed Bella too. We froze at the interruption with our lips still molded together, even though they'd stopped moving. It would have been an awkward sight to look at. That was for sure.

I don't know which one of us thawed first, but we both leaned away hastily. Still dazed from the kiss, I stepped back, but the wall crept up on me. I winced as my head banged sharply against it.

"Shit! Are you okay?" Bella reached up and rubbed at the sore spot.

"I'll live." She stopped the rubbing, so I said, "That feels really good, though."

She smiled and continued to do it for another minute, while I looked around the corridor. It appeared that we'd indulged in some pretty inappropriate PDA smack in the middle of a hospital.

Ah, I couldn't bring myself to regret it, though. It was totally worth it.

The thought brought a grin to my face.

Bella saw it and raised her eyebrows. "Feeling better, Dr. Cullen? Or do I need to get a neurosurgeon to give you an exam? Maybe you have a concussion that's making you smile like a loon."

I laughed, pulling her hand from my head and kissing the back of it. "It's not a concussion. It's you."

"I am making you crazy?"

"You are. You do, all the time," I replied honestly.

"I'd say the feeling is mutual, Doctor," she said and I couldn't help but kiss her once more.

After changing into our regular clothes, we made our way out of the hospital. Before leaving, though, I made a quick detour to check on Katie.

She'd been placed into the ICU for the time being, under strict observation for the next twenty four hours and barring any complications, she would be shifted to a regular room soon. I relayed all this information to Jenny and Steve as they sat by their daughter's bedside, holding her little hands in theirs.

"Why? Why did this happen to her?" Jenny questioned me, her tone full of despair.

I sighed, reaching out to squeeze her arm. "We've talked about this, Jenny. There is no good reason, but her genetic makeup makes-"

"Makes her more vulnerable, I know that," she snapped. Steve walked over to her side, draping a comforting arm over her shoulders. She calmed slightly, leaning against his side. "She's my daughter, Edward. I can't… She's eight years old! She's supposed to be playing, eating chocolate chip cookies and drawing pictures. She's not supposed to be lying in a hospital bed, battling for her life."

"Excuse me. Um, I'm sorry to interrupt," Bella said. She'd accompanied me to the room, waiting at the door, but apparently she'd walked in during our conversation. Now, she stood at Katie's bedside, looking a little nervous. "She's waking up."

Steve, Jenny and I turned quickly, but when Katie's eyes opened, they first landed on Bella.

"Hey there," Bella said, her voice soft and a warm smile on her face.

"Hi," Katie whispered, her solemn gaze focused solely on Bella. "You're pretty."

Bella blushed, making me smile. She turned to me, seemingly for help and I shrugged. She didn't need to say anything in response, because Katie's eyes fell to her parents. They doused her in hugs and kisses as she giggled and tried to squirm away.

I walked over to Bella's side, and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"What?" I whispered. "Katie's a smart girl and I happen to agree with her, so…" I shrugged.

"Shut up," she hissed, though the corners of her mouth quirked up.

"Hi, Katie! You gave us quite a scare today," I said, walking up to her. "May I please give you an exam, princess? I'll make it quick, I promise."

"Okay, but you have to tell me who that is," she pointed at Bella.

"Oh, is that the deal?" I bit back a chuckle as she nodded, considering her negotiation quite seriously.

I introduced Bella to her, and she waved bashfully.

"Bella? Like Princess Belle?" she gasped, looking over to her parents for confirmation. "You're Princess Belle?"

They made the non-committal responses that only parents seemed to pull off perfectly.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Katie asked me, all wide, wondrous eyes and innocence.

I looked over to Bella. The flushed state of her cheeks and her shy, but genuine, smile gave me the answer I desired.

"Yes, she is my girlfriend."

Half an hour later, we sat in my car, deciding on our next course of action.

"I could go for some food. I'm starving," I groaned, rubbing my belly.

Bella laughed.

"What? Aren't you hungry? We were supposed to have last year. Literally," I said, and she snorted.

"Yeah, literally," she mimicked me. "Proud of yourself for that little comment, aren't you?"

"Yep. Now, tell me, where are we headed? There's this little bistro down the block. I haven't tried it but it looks promising," I suggested.

She sighed. "I'm not really in the mood to go out."

"Oh," I mumbled, disappointed. "I'm sorry, Bella, I just didn't want our time together to end yet. I'm sure you must be tired. I'll-"

"Who said anything about ending our time? I just meant that we should go home."

Now, that, that brought the smile right back on to my face. "Should we go to my place? I mean, we've spent all our time so far at the dorm; you've yet to see my apartment."

She was silent for a beat.

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

It was a moment before I realized the way it sounded. "Oh, um, I don't mean… I didn't…" I floundered. "We don't have to… We're not going to… Just, uh, just talking," I mumbled, until she interrupted me with a giggle.

"Relax, Edward. I know what you meant."

"Really? You're sure, right? Because I would never..." I trailed off.

"Push me?" Bella smiled. "I know you wouldn't. I trust you. Now, whether or not I can trust you to have some food there, that is another matter entirely."

We both snickered and the sudden tension left my body as the moment lightened.

"Uh… Let me think. It has been a while since I went shopping, but…" I paused.

"But?"

"We do have some mac and cheese. And, of course, Ginger Ale."

She grinned. "Sounds perfect."

"Mmm, this is delicious," Bella groaned, taking up another spoonful.

"Thank you, Miss Swan." I picked up my own bowl and sat beside her on the couch.

I turned on the TV, switching the channels until I found reruns of Friends coming on and we settled in with that. It was a New Year special, so they were airing just the holiday season episodes from the different seasons. We laughed and talked about our favorite characters as we dug into our food.

Soon, Bella was leaning back on the couch, patting her "too full" belly and groaning about overeating when her cell rang.

"Who is calling me at two in the morning?" she muttered with a frown. "Of course." She rolled her eyes when she saw the display and answered with a smile.

"Happy New Year, Bella!" Even I heard Alice's trilling voice as Bella pulled the phone away from her ear, wincing at the sharp sound.

"Happy New Year, Ali," she replied, her tone much more suited for human hearing. "How are you?"

I picked up our bowls and put them in the sink while Bella conversed with Alice. When I came back, I hesitated for a second, wondering if she wanted to talk in private. When she saw me, Bella waved me over with a smile, so I returned to my place beside her.

"Did you forget about the time difference? What if I'd been asleep? ... No, I wasn't, but… I'm, uh, I'm not at home. Do you hear a party going on around me, Sherlock?" She shook her head at me, eyes widened comically. "I did not hesitate!"

"Fine! I'm at Edward's! You happy now?" She pouted and I shrugged.

"Yes… NO!... Okay, that's enough, Ali. Have a great night. I'm hanging up... Tell me what?... Later?... Okay, fine. Yes, I'll remember it. Okay, bye."

"Sometimes, I envy her energy, but other times… she can be so exhausting!" She sighed dramatically and I laughed. Easy as breathing, I reached out and pulled her into my side. She snuggled closer, resting her head on my chest.

This… this was all I'd ever wanted.

"You met her in college, right? The two of you seem to have gotten really close in just a few months."

"Yeah." Bella smiled fondly. "Alice has always had that kind of a personality, you know? She can connect with anyone, and make them feel comfortable. I consider myself lucky to have found her, especially as a roommate."

"I'm glad you did. You've come so far away from home, to a city you've never been to before. It's nice to have at least one close friend you can trust completely to have your back."

Her body tensed for just a second, and I wondered why. Before I could ask, she spoke, "I chose to come to Columbia."

"Yes, of course," I said quickly, hoping that I hadn't unknowingly offended her. The tone of her voice puzzled me. "The opportunity to study in an Ivy League school-"

"No, that's not what I-" She paused, pulling away slightly to meet my eyes. "I'd been accepted into University of Pennsylvania too. I could have gone there. I'd lived there for years; I was familiar with the city, but, I- I chose to come to Columbia, to New York."

She looked at me intently, willing me to comprehend whatever hidden meaning she wanted to convey, but I was drawing a blank. Sighing, she took my hand in hers with a small smile on her face.

"I came here… I came here to be closer to you, Edward."

Her words reverberated through my mind, and then hit me straight in the center of my chest. For the second time in the day, Bella Swan had managed to stun me to the point where I could only gape at her, like an idiot.

Gently, she pushed my jaw back up from where it had dropped. "I don't even… I didn't plan for one second to come and see you. I just hoped… maybe that'd we'd run into each other someday? I never imagined that you felt anything more for me. I believed that you saw me as nothing more than the high school student you were stuck with for a month."

That comment made me find my voice back. I frowned. "Bella, I've never, ever thought of you like that. Even though I didn't want to admit my feelings for you back then, I've always respected you… as a person, as a friend."

"I know that now," she assured me. "But at the time, I didn't know what I do now. I let my insecurities get the better off me. I didn't realize until yesterday that I'd been projecting the way I see myself onto you."

"What does that mean?"

She grimaced. "You thought you'd be holding me back if we got into a relationship back then. Well, I thought, in the same way, that there was no way that you could possibly want me." I wanted to interrupt, but she stopped me with a hand on my lips. "Yes, yes. I know now that's not true."

While everything she said made sense, I wondered why it sounded a bit like she was trying to take responsibility for what happened, when she could not have been further from the truth. Obviously, she had been thinking about this for a while, so, I did not want to interrupt her train of thought. She was pouring her heart out to me, and in no way was I daring to cut off what she had to say.

"Anyway," she sighed. "I've thought a lot about us ever since you walked back into my life. All this time we've spent together, you were right. I needed that. I needed to just… be with you, no pressure, no expectations, and no demons hanging over our head. Just you and me, talking, laughing, studying, cooking, teasing... just being. I was seeing the real you, Edward," she whispered, placing a hand against my cheek. "I didn't see much of the real Edward Cullen back in Forks, except the last week of that summer. In the beginning, you were… reserved. I felt like you'd made this, sort of cage around yourself, intent to keep everyone out, not telling anyone about the conglomerate of emotions raging inside of you.

"In the meadow, for the first time, you opened up to me. I saw your pain, your kindness, and your strength. When we kissed that day, it was the first time I realized that you were way more than just a friend to me. With the way you kissed me, I was so sure that you felt the same for me, so when you just left… it broke me."

We'd talked about this earlier, but I still felt as though the breath had been knocked out of me by a swift kick in the ribs. "I'm so sor—"

"No, Edward, stop," she requested. "You've apologized over and over, and I have forgiven you. I'm just trying to be honest with you. I don't want to start our relationship on a shaky foundation."

She paused, so I nodded my understanding, encouraging her to continue.

"The more that I got to know you, the more I wanted to be with you. My point is that you have changed, and so have I. I could have fought for what I wanted; I could have stopped you. I could have picked up the phone and called you, but I didn't. Like I said, I let my insecurity cloud my judgment and I gave up. Consciously or not, I made my own decision, too and I was wrong to blame it entirely on you."

"Bella, don't say that," I asserted. "You could not have altered my decision. Whatever I did, it was all my fault."

"Oh, I know it was." She grinned, confusing the hell out of me. "You were wrong in leaving me like that. I am not taking the entire blame for what happened. I am just saying that you were not responsible for my inaction. I was naïve in thinking that if you'd just stayed with me, everything else would have fallen into place. Who knows, if our relationship had come out then, people would have judged and judged to their hearts' content, and maybe we wouldn't have it made it under all that pressure. I have realized and accepted that it just wasn't our time. Now, here, this is our time, and I want to move forward."

She squeezed my hand. "I am going to let go of the past, and focus on the present. I want you to do the same. I've seen the way you look at me now… always concerned, and scared of making even a single mistake that would drive me away. We will make mistakes, Edward, both of us, but I'm not going to let what happened in the past ruin what could be something wonderful in the future. Stop worrying so much. It's the beginning of a New Year, the beginning of our relationship. We get to start over and this time, no one is running away."

"Wow!" I shook my head, thoroughly amazed by this utterly beautiful girl, and so, so grateful to have her in my life. "When did you get so wise?"

"Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age," she pronounced haughtily, then scrunched up her nose. "Does that sound right? Maybe I should have said wisdom may come at an early age because the first one was for someone who's old, but not necess-"

I cut her off with a kiss. Now that I had her permission, it seemed like I simply couldn't resist. Her lips pulled up into a smile against mine, as she wrapped her arms around me, bringing me closer.

When we pulled apart, I blurted the first thing that came to my dazed mind. "So all this time that I was pining for you, you were missing me too, huh? I wasn't the only one?"

"I just bared my soul before you, Edward Cullen. Don't make me regret it. Wipe that smug look off your face!" She tried to look stern, but the effect was marred by a huge yawn that broke out on her lips and I couldn't help but snigger.

"All right, sleepy girl." I looked down at my watch. "Damn, it's past three. We need to sleep."

"Hmm, yeah," Bella groaned, stretching her arms.

It was at that moment that the fucking question of the sleeping arrangement resonated loud and clear in my head. In hindsight, it should have been the most obvious thing to come to mind when I first suggested that we come back to my place, but I guess I'd been delirious after having officially labelled our relationship and this little situation escaped my thoughts.

Was it too soon to share a bed? Even if we just slept?

It'd been so long since I'd dated someone… What did I know about the protocols in relationships nowadays?

I was glad I didn't voice those thoughts… they made me sound like I was eighty.

I repressed a shudder.

"So, um," I started. "There are three bedrooms here. You can, uh, sleep wherever you prefer."

Bella looked at me, blinking in surprise.

Why? Did she think I'd automatically assume that we'd sleep in the same bed?

Before I could get in another word, she said, "Okay. You can show me, uh, any guest room is fine.

I loathed the awkwardness that had made its way into what had otherwise been a perfect evening. My mind had gone blank, so with nothing else to say, I led her to the bathroom in silence and handed her a pair of my sweatpants and a cotton t-shirt to put on.

I cleaned up in the kitchen, and then headed to my bedroom, just as Bella walked out of the bathroom, right across the hall. The t-shirt hung past the middle of her thighs and the pants were rolled up several times, as it seemed from the little bulging line over her belly.

"Don't you dare laugh," she warned me.

I held up my hands defensively. "I was just going to say, that you look adorable, that's all."

She bit back a smile and turned around. I showed her to her room, awkwardly bidding her a good night and walked over to mine.

I brushed my teeth and changed, practically falling onto the bed on my back. I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep, but the thoughts of Bella in my house, so close and yet separated from me by the damned walls, didn't let my mind shut off.

A look at the alarm clock told me that I'd been tossing and turning for almost half an hour. I pushed off the covers and sat up.

Maybe if I'd just peek in there once… Just see that she's asleep…

Would that make me a Peeping Tom?

Would it help or make matters even worse?

I pursed my lips, indecisive.

My eyes quickly shifted to the door, squinting when a sliver of light from the hallway made its way into the room.

"Bella?" I said quietly, looking at her dark form peeking in through the door. She walked in, her hair a wild mess and her hands clutching a pillow.

"I couldn't sleep," she confessed. "This is silly," she whispered, waving a hand in the direction of the two rooms.

Relieved, I smiled, and silently pulled back the covers. She didn't waste a minute, climbing in as I lay back down on the bed.

"I did it again, didn't I? Assumed that you wouldn't want to, um…"

"Sleep in a bed with you?" she finished my sentence. "We're adults. We can just sleep together without anything else happening here."

"I'm sorry I assumed," I murmured.

"Me too. I could have said something earlier."

"Well, we're learning. We'll get better," I assured her.

"Hmm, learning together sounds good." She leaned in, kissing me softly, before turning to her side and snuggling back into my chest.

"Sounds perfect," I whispered, wrapping her in my arms. I closed my eyes, relishing in the scent of her skin and the comfort of holding her close to my form, as I gladly welcomed a deep, peaceful sleep.

A/N: I'm really looking forward to your feedback on this one. I think it can go either way... Bring it on! I'm eager to chat with you all.

Hope you have a lovely day :)