Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything.

Chapter 8

Present-Age 20

Bella's POV

Edward wasn't in class for the next few days. Not seeing him was making me unbelievably anxious. I had just got him back and the thought of him being gone again was gut wrenching.

After three days of him not showing up I was almost going to ask the professor if he knew where he was. I had asked Emmett if he knew where Edward's dorm was but Emmett said he had no idea.

I decided to wait one more day and if he didn't show up I was going to ask someone.

As I walked into the lecture room, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Edward sitting in the seat next to my usual seat.

I smiled and walked towards him.

"Hey" he said softly smiling at me.

I sat down and looked up into his green eyes.

"Where have you been?" I asked in concern.

He looked away for a moment and coughed "Um...I just...had some things to take care of" he said vaguely staring towards the front of the room.

I frowned. What was he hiding? I was about to question him further but the lecture began before I could get a word out.

I pondered what could possibly be going on. Did he have some girlfriend somewhere he was visiting?

I didn't listen to a word of the lecture. My theories of where he had been occupied all my thoughts.

Edward began packing up his books. This brought me out of my thoughts and I was startled that the class had already ended.

I started packing up my stuff. I remembered something Alice had suggested I do but I couldn't help but feel nervous in asking him.

"Um" I started and Edward looked at me.

"My friends Alice and Rose and their boyfriends were planning on doing something on Saturday and they invited me to come to and I...I was wondering if maybe...you would like to come to." I looked at the floor as I said this scared of the possible rejection.

Edward didn't say anything for a moment so I looked up in fear. He looked slightly conflicted but when my eyes met his, an expression crossed his face and the corner of his mouth turned up in a slight smile.

"Yeah sure...I'd...I'd liked that"

I smiled at him brightly. "Well where meeting at our dorm at 10" I gave him my room number and said goodbye.

As I was walking out of the room I glanced at him briefly over my shoulder. He was frowning down at the table top.

I turned back around my happiness lessening slightly. I tried to push his expression out of my mind. He had agreed to come. For now that had to be enough.

Age 17

"Bella" Edward said impatiently looking over at his girlfriend as she stared darkly out the car window "Talk to me, tell me why you're mad"

"I'm not mad" she said shortly.

He sighed and reached his hand out to touch her leg gently. Bella flinched away and moved closer to the window.

"Sure you're not mad" he muttered sarcastically but she just ignored him.

He pulled up at her house and turned around to look at her. He was going to find out what he had done wrong.

She started to open the door and get out but he quickly locked the doors before she could.

"Hey" she said angrily pulling on the door handle. She reached up to unlock it but he grabbed her hand and pulled her around to face him.

"Tell me what I did" he said holding both her hands in his.

She looked at the floor and didn't say anything.

He sighed "I don't understand. We had a great dinner and then all of a sudden you just got mad. What did I do?"

She snorted "Yeah I'm sure you had a great dinner"

He frowned "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just that I hope you enjoyed the view" she hissed.

He just stared at her in confusion "What are you talking about?"

"The waitress" she said as though that explained everything.

'Yeah and?"

"She was flirting with you and you flirted back" she said angrily.

"I did not!" he said just as angrily. He barely even remembered what she looked like.

"And when she leaned over the table you totally checked out her boobs" she said accusingly.

"Well…I…I didn't mean to she practically threw them at me" he said defensively. He did recall seeing down her shirt but it wasn't like he meant to look. They were just there.

Bella huffed and pulled her hands out of his "You wish my boobs were big like hers" she accused.

His mouth dropped open "N…no of course I don't"

She glared at him "Well how come you looked then"

"How could I not? But... Bella it doesn't mean anything" he said trying to explain.

"Of course it means something…would you be so understanding if you caught me checking out some other guy's dick huh?"

Edward rolled his eyes "Bella your acting crazy"

She frowned "No I'm not…Just admit it you wish my boobs were bigger"

He stared at her for a moment but it was a moment to long and she ripped open the car door and slammed it behind her.

He jumped out his side quickly and ran after her "Bella of course I don't, I love your boobs just the way they are"

He realised too late that an elderly couple were walking past Bella's house and they looked over at him oddly.

"No you don't" Bella yelled over her shoulder as she opened her front door.

Edward sighed heavily "Belly…"

"Don't call me that" she hissed and slammed the door shut.

He rested his head against the door and groaned. He couldn't go home now, not when she was mad.

Bella ran up the stairs and into her room. She fell face down on her bed and sobbed into her pillows.

She realised that she may be overreacting slightly but when she saw how beautiful the waitress was it brought up so many insecurities she had about herself. She heard so many girls at school saying how they thought Edward was hot and why he was going out with someone as plain as Bella. Every time she heard this she wondered how long it would be until Edward realised this and found someone who was just as beautiful as he was.

She cried for a long time and barely heard the rocks as they bounced off her window. She eventually got up and looked outside, at Edward, as he tried to get her attention.

"Bella" he called as he saw her face appear at the window. But she just shook her head and walked back to her bed.

After a couple of hours Bella walked back to her window and reached out to shut her curtains. She gasped when she saw Edward still outside sitting against the tree.

She pulled her window open and hissed "Edward what are you doing?"

"Waiting for you…can I please come up?" he begged.

She nodded slowly and he started to climb up the tree and into her room.

Once he was inside, he took her hand and led her to her bed "What's this really about?" he could see right through her and knew there was more to this then him looking at some waitresses breasts.

She sighed and looked at her hands.

He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up so he could see her "Tell me"

"It's just…don't you know you could do so much better" she whispered.

"Better?" he asked in confusion "Then what?"

"Then me" she muttered.

His mouth fell open… better then Bella? That wasn't even possible.

"There's no one better then you" he said furiously.

"Yes there is, you could have someone beautiful like Tanya or that waitress…someone as beautiful as you. Someone who wasn't plain like me" she said sadly

Edward stared at her in shock. Was this really how she saw herself?

"Don't ever say that to me again" he said angrily "How can you say that? You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen. There is nothing plain about you"

She looked at her hands and shook her head.

He sighed. He pushed her shoulder until she was lying down and then he lay down above her so he was leaning over her.

"What are you doing?" she asked in confusion.

"Showing you just how beautiful you are" he said huskily.

He reached for her hair and pulled it out of her ponytail until it cascaded around her shoulder. He brushed his nose in it taking in the sweet smell of strawberries.

"Beautiful hair" he whispered as he traced his nose across her face until he reached her eyes where he kissed the eyelids softly "Beautiful eyes" he kissed down her cheeks until he reached her mouth. She let out a soft moan when his tongue traced her lips gently "Beautiful mouth" he whispered against her lips.

He kissed down her neck whispering "Beautiful" as he went.

When he reached her breasts he pulled her shirt over her head and kissed her breasts softly "Beautiful and perfectly sized" he said grinning up at her. She smiled weakly at him and threw her head back when he cupped her breast in his hand and lightly messaged it.

He kissed and touched every part of her and told her how beautiful everything about her was, so that she'd believe it. When he was finished she reached for him and kissed him as hard as she could.

"I love you" she whispered.

"I love you…and there's nobody out there for me but you" he whispered "Your it. I don't want anybody else"

She nodded tears springing to her eyes at his words.

"And your boobs are the only ones I'll ever look at" he said seriously as he cupped them in his palms.

She chuckled softly and kissed his nose "Good"

Present-Age 20

Bella's POV

I sat on my bed on Saturday morning, nervously wringing my hands in my lap. I was dressed in my bathing suit and a dress. Alice had wanted to go to the beach but she said we could do something else because of my broken arm. But I told her it was fine, I could just splash around on the edge and sunbake.

So Alice, Rose, Emmett, Jasper and...Edward and I were going to the beach.

Alice walked through the door and gave me an odd look "Bella it's like 8...he won't be here for two hours"

"I know I just...wanted to be ready" I said blushing slightly.

She patted my hand and gave me a sympathetic smile "It's going to be fine"

I took a deep breath and tried to believe her.

At 9:55 I jumped to my feet in panic "Crap I forgot to tell Edward we were going to the beach he won't know to bring..."

I was cut off by Alice "Bella calm down its fine. Jasper left a pair of his swimming shorts here, Edward can borrow them"

I breathed a sigh of relief "Okay, thanks Alice"

She smiled at me and shook her head looking slightly amused.

Jasper arrived and a couple of minutes later so did Rosalie and Emmett.

We sat around talking. Well everyone else did, I just sat on the bed staring at the door.

When there was a small knock I jumped slightly then got to my feet and opened it.

Edward stood in the doorway in a long sleeved grey shirt and jeans. He wasn't really dressed for the beach and I felt bad.

"Hey" I said breathlessly and lost my breath again when he smiled at me.

"Hey Bella" he said softly.

I just stared into his deep eyes for a minute until I heard Alice cough over my shoulder.

I shook myself "Um...um Edward this is Alice" I said and she waved at him excitedly.

I introduced him to Rose and Jasper and then to Emmett "You have a class together right"

Edward nodded "Hey" he said and shook Emmett's hand.

We talked for another few moments until Alice said we better get going.

"So where are we going exactly?" Edward asked as we were walking out the door.

"Oh" I said "I forgot to tell you...to the beach but don't worry, Jasper has some shorts you can borrow and I have a spare towel so..." I stopped when I saw a flash of panic cross his face.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"N..nothing...I don't know if I feel like swimming" he said looking at the ground.

I looked at him feeling even more confused. Edward loved swimming.

"Oh...oh okay... that's cool you can just sunbake or watch or whatever...I mean I won't be swimming much with my arm anyway" I said holding out my cast.

"Okay" he said looking around the room, not meeting my eyes.

"Alright... ready to go?" I said smiling at him trying to hide my confusion. He looked at me for a moment attempting a weak smile which didn't meet his eyes.

-------------

We got to the beach and Alice jumped out of the car and ran excitedly towards the water. The more time I spent with her the more she reminded me of an excited child.

The rest of us got out of the car more slowly and walked across the sand.

Edward's mood seemed darker then when he had first arrived in our room. He exchanged polite conversation but nothing more than that.

We laid our towels down on the sand. Rose, Emmett and Jasper headed towards the water straight away and joined Alice. Edward sat on his towel and I joined him.

He didn't say anything. So I tried to coax conversation out of him. I asked him anything I could think of. About his other classes, if he had a roommate (he didn't), if he'd seen any good movies lately, what he was reading. Anything at all, just so I could listen to his voice.

The sun shined down on us and I began to feel hot. I pulled my dress off over my head, leaving me just in my blue bikini.

I looked over at Edward and caught him looking at me with a wistful expression.

I blushed slightly. I saw that he was sweating slightly and hadn't even pushed the sleeves of his shirt up.

"Are you sure you don't want to go swimming? Jasper won't mind if you borrow..."

"No its fine" he said a bit shortly.

"Okay" I whispered looking away.

I felt his hand touch mine gently I looked at him "Sorry I just...don't feel like it today...but you go ahead"

"No...I'll stay..." I said quickly I looked towards the ocean. Trying not to think about how nice the cool water would feel on my skin.

"Bellaaa" he said smiling slightly "Go"

I smiled slightly. He still knew me to well "I'll be back in a minute"

I got up and smiled even wider when I saw his eyes follow me as I got up. I walked towards the water and swung my hips a bit more then I would normally.

I splashed around in the water being careful not to get my cast wet. The water was cool and soothing. I watched Alice and Rose and the boys swimming and splashing and squealing. I smiled to myself I was glad I had met them.

Once I had cooled down I walked out of the water and looked over at where Edward had been sitting.

He wasn't there anymore.

I walked towards the towels and looked around in confusion. Where had he gone?

I picked up my towel and began drying myself off. I jumped when a hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around and there stood Edward. I sighed in relief.

He had two ice creams in his hand. One chocolate, his favourite and the other Vanilla.

Vanilla was the only ice cream I liked, even though when we were kids Edward would say that was weird and boring.

He handed it to me, smiling slightly.

"Thanks" I whispered feeling embarrassingly sentimental over an ice cream.

"You're welcome" he replied and we sat back down, our shoulders touching, both of us eating our ice creams.

AN: Sorry this chapter took awhile...anyway I hope you enjoyed it please review and let me know what you think!