A/N:Hi! Hi! Hi! It's a day earlier than I had promised; I hope you don't mind ;) The chapter was ready to go, so, I thought, why the heck not?

Your reviews for the last chapter blew me away! Thank you.

As always, massive thanks to Dazzled Eyes22 and Melissa.

Happy reading!

I looked at my watch for the umpteenth time as I paced along the sidewalk next to my parked car. She should have been done by now.

Maybe I should have thought about this a little more and planned it out.

I guess surprises only work out perfectly in romance movies, I thought.

I was waiting for Bella outside the building where she had her last class for the day. It was also the last assignment that she had to hand in, and then she would be free, until February, at least. They had an exam coming up in the second week of February. Now, it wasn't a major one- just an overenthusiastic teacher's whim to quiz the students every other week-but my Bella never did something half-heartedly, and when it came to exams, she turned into a Type-A personality.

I couldn't be more proud of her for that. I was sure that her innate thirst for knowledge, her curiosity and eagerness to learn would make her an excellent doctor one day.

I'd asked Alice and she'd told me that Bella's class should be ending at four, but it was now four-thirty and there was no sign of her yet. I squelched the pang of worry that pulsed through my chest.

She was fine. Of course, she was. She was in the classroom. What was the worst thing that could happen in there?

I distracted myself by thinking about the conversation I'd had with Alice this morning.

She sounded cordial and dare I say, even friendly, when we talked. I told her about my idea of surprising Bella at college and she sounded pleased. She informed me that Bella had chosen to walk to campus today, so we wouldn't have to worry about her car. Apparently, Bella had spilled the beans about everything that had happened between us after Alice left for her parents' place in Chicago, and the sincere efforts I'd put in to win Bella's heart had also earned me some brownie points in Alice's eyes.

She did threaten to kick my ass six ways to Sunday if I even thought about hurting Bella again.

All in all, it was a pleasant conversation.

It made me happy to have made some leeway in forming a good image of myself in her eyes, simply because I knew how important she was to Bella.

The pitter-patter of footsteps and the sudden increase in the noise level around me alerted me to the group of students walking out of the building. I looked around for a moment, searching.

There she was.

She was wearing a pale pink woolen tunic. The color matched perfectly against her porcelain skin. My gaze travelled over her face, as an involuntary smile tugged at my lips. She laughed along with the blonde girl walking beside her, thoroughly engrossed in whatever was amusing them. Her hair shone in the sunlight. The glints of red were just as prominent as they'd been over a year ago in the meadow, which was the day I'd realized for the first time just how extraordinarily beautiful she was.

I watched as the blonde girl waved goodbye and walked away toward her car. Since Bella hadn't spotted me, I pulled out my phone and dialed her number.

She rooted around in her bag, pulling out her cell phone and glancing at the screen. With a big smile etched on her beautiful face, she answered, "Hi, baby!"

Yep, we'd moved on to terms of endearment now.

"Hi. Where are you?"

"Still at the campus. My class just ended."

"How did it go?"

"Oh, it was great, Edward! I can't wait to see you and tell you all about it."

I smiled, as she gave me the perfect cue. "Well, luckily, you don't need to wait. First, I have to tell you that even though blue is my absolute favorite color on you, this shade of pink is a close second."

I was too far to hear it, but I saw as her lips parted in a gasp, before she looked around wildly. After finally spotting me, she grinned and crossed the distance between us quickly right before she flung herself into my arms. Her hands held my face as her lips brushed against mine.

"Is it crazy that I missed you even after not seeing you for a day? I mean, we did talk just last night," she whispered against my mouth.

I pursed my lips, pretending to think about it. "Hmm, maybe, but, if it is, you can book me a spot in the loony bin because I missed you like crazy, too."

She laughed heartily, the sound warming my heart. I couldn't resist leaning in and kissing her once again. She responded eagerly with a light moan escaping her throat as our lips came together. When she opened her mouth to me, our tongues mingled together. The world faded away as her taste, her scent and her warmth overwhelmed my senses.

"Bella!"

The voice was sharp and angry, snapping me back, quite harshly, to reality.

We broke apart reluctantly. Bella blinked rapidly, still dazed and I probably would have been smug at my kissing abilities, but I had no time to think about that. My eyes focused on the fuming dark-haired, honey-skinned guy standing in front of me and glaring daggers at us.

Jacob Black.

Bella extricated herself from my arms and turned around. My lips twitched at his venomous expression, when she didn't let go completely and took my hand instead.

"Jacob," she greeted him in an even voice.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he bellowed, causing the few people in our proximity to look over curiously.

The way he spoke to Bella was enough to make my blood boil and I took an instinctive step toward him, only to stop when Bella's grip on my hand tightened. She shook her head minutely, before turning her head to face him.

"What do you want, Jake?" She was being entirely too polite for my taste, but, people were already beginning to gather and whisper around us. Creating any more of a scene would not do Bella any good.

"What do I want?" he sneered. "What I want is for you to tell me what the hell you're doing with this guy? He was your doctor, wasn't he? The one at the hospital who kept coming around every fucking day."

"How dare you talk to her like that?" I hissed. I was having a hard time restraining myself from punching the delusional guy, who obviously thought he had some sort of a claim on Bella.

"Mind your language," Bella spat at him, still clasping my hand tightly. It was the only thing that kept me rooted to my spot during the entire exchange. "I don't owe you any explanations."

My fists balled reflexively when he scoffed. "Like hell you don't! You were going out with me, and now I see you kissing this son of a-"

"It was one date, Jacob, if I can even call it that. I ended whatever you thought we had when I called you before New Year, so, I'm saying this for the last time and get it into your thick skull- I do not owe you any further explanations and you have no right to talk to me this way." Bella turned to me. "Let's go."

I still wanted to punch the shit out of Jacob Black, but her eyes were pleading me to let it go, and she was right. I needed to act like the mature, rational adult I was and walk away. For her, and only for her, I swallowed down the words I ached to hurl at him and opened the passenger door of the car. Bella quickly took a seat. By the time I revved the engine, a couple of guys I'd never seen before were standing with Jacob, trying to calm him down and pull him away before he could make any more of a fool of himself than he already had. We drove off without sparing him another glance.

We ended up on at Bella's dorm, curled up together on the couch in the living room. We sipped at our glasses of cold coffee silently, lost in our own thoughts.

I had a suspicion which was nagging at me, but I wondered whether voicing it now would do us any good or just cause more harm.

Finally, Bella sighed, placing our empty glasses on the table and took my hand. Her slender fingers softly traced the lines in my palm. The simple, little action was highly distracting as I found my thoughts drifting away from Jacob and his abominable behavior to my girl's warm, soft body pressed up against my side.

"What are you thinking?" she wondered.

"Right this second, or before you started distracting me?"

She giggled. "Before."

I exhaled heavily. "The way you reacted to Jacob today… Bella, it makes me think that this was not the first time he's accosted you."

My hunch was confirmed when her eyes flickered away from mine. It was just for a second, but it was enough. "Bella…" I groaned in aggravation.

"Fine, you're right, but, I swear, he's never been like this before. He has tried to talk to me twice at school after the holidays. He was… polite. He just kept asking me why I tried to break up with him and when I told him again that I was with someone else now, he asked me who it was. I told him it wasn't any of his business and he left me alone after that."

"You should have told me about this."

She sighed. "I had absolutely no clue that he'd become so… so rude and jealous, or create a scene in front of the entire student body."

"Now we do know," I said pointedly. "You need to stay away from him, Bella. You saw him today, how volatile he has become." She was about to interrupt, but I forged ahead without a pause. "Please, for my sanity. Just keep someone close with you, if he crosses your way. Please, that's all I'm asking."

"Okay," she said softly, squeezing my hand. "I promise. I'll be careful." She lifted my arm, and cuddled underneath it. "He wasn't always like this, you know. He's been a great friend of mine since we were kids. I don't know what has come over him now." Her voice was sad.

I knew exactly what his problem was. He was jealous, plain and simple. It was exactly what I'd felt when I'd seen him with Bella in the hospital. The only difference was that I realized that I had no claim over her at the time. So, no matter how much I wanted to throw a tantrum that would put a three year old to shame, I kept my feelings shut tight in a box and shoved it far away in some corner of my mind.

I wondered if Jacob was capable of that. I saw the way he questioned Bella today and if I had to guess, I would say that he had probably thought that of his relationship with Bella as a done deal. When Bella had said no, he managed to convince himself that sooner or later, she would come back to him. Seeing her with me today must have been the last straw that made him snap.

How far would he go? That was the question.

"Edward, I can almost hear the gears turning in your head. You're going to give yourself grey hair if you keep going like this. Just drop this now," Bella suggested. "Forget about him."

"I wish I could," I muttered.

A wicked gleam appeared in her brown eyes, as she smirked. "Oh, I can think of a few ways to distract you."

Before I could even begin to comprehend that little comment, she threw her leg over mine, straddling my lap. My eyebrows shot to my hairline when she gathered her hair to one side and leaned in, creating a dark curtain around the two of us.

"Is it working?" she whispered. Her lips were no more than a centimeter away from mine.

"Yes." My voice cracked. I couldn't even be bothered with being embarrassed at this point. Not when my shy Bella had unleashed this… uh… sultry goddess from somewhere within herself.

"Good," she whispered and my lips parted. She pulled up my arms, bringing them around the small of her back and I locked my fingers there. I could feel her hot breath as it caressed my lips. The moment of anticipation sent shivers down my spine, as she came closer and closer until our lips fused together in a hard kiss.

Since we'd gotten together, I'd never allowed myself to fully lose control with Bella. I'd kissed her plenty of times, but it was always soft, tender and loving. This time, it was different. When Bella wiggled in my lap, practically grinding against me, all shreds of control snapped and I let the sensations she was evoking in me cloud my mind completely. Nothing else remained, but the sounds of our groans, the whispers of our panting breaths and the feeling of her chest pressed deliciously against mine.

Our mouths moved frantically against each other- lips tugging and sucking, tongues rubbing and stroking, hands grasping at every inch of skin they could reach.

Bella gasped into my mouth when my hips bucked up reflexively and for a split second, I panicked.

It was unnecessary.

Her loud moan resonated through my chest as she tilted and moved her pelvis once again, smiling into the kiss when a hiss left my mouth.

The sound of keys being jiggled inside the lock didn't filter through my desire-addled brain until it was too late. A distinct, piercing "Oh shit!" rang out in the room, before I could shift Bella from my lap.

Pulling away from my mouth, Bella leaned her forehead against mine as we tried to regain our breaths. I looked over her head, and saw Alice hopping on one leg and attempting to remove her boots with one hand while the other was held over her eyes.

I swallowed hard and breathed slowly, willing my body to calm down.

Bella saw Alice and snickered, while moving off my lap and onto the couch. "You can open your eyes, Ali. We're decent."

Despite the confirmation, Alice peeked through her fingers before dropping her hand completely. "Please." She waved a hand. "Don't stop on my account. I can just head on over to my room."

"Oh, shut up! Like you were any better in that first month," Bella retorted.

"It was not a full month! It was one week and that shit got old pretty soon," she huffed and stomped away.

Bella giggled while I looked on, completely lost.

"When college started-," she explained. "-in the first week, Alice brought four different guys back here after her classes and I received a free, unwanted pass to their make out sessions every day, since they never made it to her bedroom." I didn't know how to react to that little piece of information, so I tried to keep my expression neutral, but judging by the amusement etched on Bella's face, I wasn't very successful.

"Do not make me out to be a slut in front of your boyfriend, Swan!" Alice shrieked from inside her room.

"Okay, okay," Bella yelled back. Turning to me, she said, "Alice wanted to "make the most" of the college experience. When we heard about three of those guys swapping curses and throwing punches at each other in their dorms, needless to say, Alice realized that she'd bitten off more than she could chew and she gave up her promiscuous ways."

"We just kissed! Kissing is not promiscuous!" she ranted, barging back into the living room in what I presumed were her pajamas. She turned to me with a petulant pout. "Is it, Edward?"

Shit. What am I supposed to say?

"I-uh, I don't think so." I looked between them hesitantly.

Alice was satisfied with that. "There." She stuck her tongue out at Bella, who laughed and rolled her eyes. "What are you guys doing here anyway? I thought you were taking her out somewhere," she asked me.

We relayed the incident with Jacob and Alice appeared to be as surprised as Bella at his outburst.

"Where did you want to go?" Bella asked me.

I shrugged. "Honestly, I hadn't zeroed down on anything. I'd planned to ask you what you were in the mood for."

Bella's reply was interrupted when her phone rang. The Cougar Anthem blared out at full volume, making Bella glare at Alice.

"When did you get your hands on my phone?"

"Last week, actually." She chortled. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time! I'm so glad that I was here for it. It suits her well, don't you think?"

Bella just shook her head. "Hello, Mom," she answered, walking over to the kitchen.

As soon as she was out of sight, Alice turned to me. "So?"

I raised my eyebrows expectantly.

"I take it by the visual I came home to that things are going good with you guys?" She grinned.

I cleared my throat, shifting slightly on the couch that had apparently been a witness to several make-out sessions. Now, I had added one of mine to the list.

"Yeah, we're good."

"I'm glad, Edward." Alice's voice turned soft and sincere. "Bella has been so happy ever since you both got together. It's nice to see her like this, you know. I had my doubts about you, but I must say, you're doing good job so far."

I didn't know what to say. I figured I couldn't go wrong with the truth. "Making Bella happy is all I want to do."

"That bodes well for our friendship in the future." She winked, and I chuckled.

Bella returned with an incomprehensible look on her face. Alice looked at me with a grimace and shook her head.

We were all silent for a minute. Then, Bella said, "She called to tell me that Phil has a meeting with some agency here who might be interested in signing him. So, she may make an appearance with him sometime soon."

"That's good, isn't it?" I said tentatively.

"I think so. I've missed her." She sighed. "Then she asked about what's going on with me. I heard someone's voice calling for her, so she put me on hold for a minute. When she came back, I told her that I was dating someone. I was about to tell her more about you, and then she left me hanging for a while again. She returned to tell me that she's got to go and will call again later. She asked about my life, and the one thing I told her probably didn't even register in her mind because what mother wouldn't bombard her daughter with questions about who she was seeing? She went on and on about Phil's recent stats, how his team was holding him back and what this contract could mean for them. When it was my turn to talk, she just… had better things to do. Why did she even call, then, if she didn't want to hear what I had to say?"

Silently, I took her hand in mine. She squeezed it with a rueful smile.

"I know what this calls for." Alice jumped up and hurried to the kitchen.

I put my arm around Bella and she leaned into me. Pressing my lips to her hair, I murmured, "I'm sorry you're hurting, baby."

She sighed. "It's fine, Edward. I'm okay. I just… I just keep wondering when exactly I'll stop expecting things from her, you know? She's always been like this. She's not a bad person; I am sure she doesn't even realize that she's doing this. That doesn't mean that I don't feel, well, a little slighted. Is it wrong of me to feel this way? Am I selfish?"

Gently, I rubbed large, soothing circles on her back. "No, Bella. You are not wrong in expecting her to take an interest in your life. She's your mother; of course you'd want that. I guess no family is perfect. We can't change it. We just have to deal with what we're given."

"I know," she breathed. "You're right. I'll snap out of the funk. I always do. I've just had enough for one day now. First Jacob, now Renee."

"I have just the thing to make it all better," Alice said with a smile, and we looked up. She was holding something behind her back.

"And what's that?" Bella asked.

With dramatic flair, she slowly brought her hands forth. They held the box of chocolate cookie mix that Bella and I had purchased after her last hospital checkup.

I was thankful when it brought a smile to Bella's face.

"Chocolate therapy, huh? Sounds good to me," she said.

"I'll get the bowls and the flour ready." Alice left to give us a moment alone.

"Think you can handle a little measuring and mixing, Dr. Cullen?"

"You bet." I grinned.

"We could go out tomorrow, if you want," she said with a frown. "I'm sorry our plans for today got messed up."

I shushed her. "I don't need to go out, Bella. I just want to be with you, that's all."

"Stay with me tonight? The bed is queen sized, but I think we can squeeze in." She looked at me with hopeful eyes.

"I'm sure we can manage." I kissed her, pleased when she sighed contentedly and wrapped her arms around my neck.

Silly girl, didn't she realize?

If she asked, I'd stay with her forever.

A/N:Well...? How was that for a distraction? Someone asked for, ahem, sexy times. You know who you are, lol! That was a start, right?

I'm always nervous about this stuff. What do you think- Good, bad, or meh?

Are you guys checking out the teasers I post on FB? I usually put them up on Wednesday, so, if you want a sneak peek into the next chapter a little sooner, check it out! You can find me there as Kayla Cullen.

Thank God the weekend's almost here. Hope you have a lovely one!