(A little repeat. Nothing majorly annoying)

Chapter twenty-four

Camping-

Edward POV-

I looked at Bella, the sunrise surrounding her, and I knew that I would never find anyone else. Bella was the one, I was sure. How could Jacob have ever hurt her? She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen, and I doubt I would ever see anyone more beautiful than she is. She was perfect. Everything about her was perfect.

I snapped the picture, and she blushed, biting her lip. I groaned inwardly. Did she know how much I loved when she did that?

"Nah. That's just the sunset. It's all in the lighting," Her voice was teasing, but I wasn't in the mood for joking. Like I would ever joke about her beauty. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and I wanted her to be closer, if that was possible.

"I disagree. It's much, much more than the lighting."

My emotions surged over and before I could think I was kissing her. It started off gentle, but it grew more urgent, holding all of our pent up feelings. I knew that I had a lot of them. They had been growing since she'd knocked on the door of my office. She'd looked so scared, helpless. Protectiveness surged over me, and I slowed down the kiss. I didn't want to hurt her. Even though I knew I wasn't being nearly rough enough to hurt her I hadn't thought before kissing her. I needed to see in her eyes what her voice couldn't say. I needed to know that the kiss was okay. That it was okay. Dumbass. Why'd you do that? Why don't you ever think? I chewed myself out, not knowing if I'd just ruined everything.

I gently brushed my lips against hers once more, barely touching. Then I pulled back and opened my eyes, looking into hers. She broke out into a huge smile, and a lovely blush covered her face. This time I was overwhelmed with joy.

"You know, I'm pretty sure that I love you, Bella. I've never really felt this way before, so tell me if I'm doing this all wrong." I whispered into her ear, and I felt her shiver.

"Well, you know, usually you tell the girl you love her before kissing her like that." She teased, biting her lip again. This time I didn't stop myself, and I pulled her body against mine, kissing her bottom lip first.

"I love it when you bite your lip like that, you know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I love you first, I thought showing you would suffice."

"It did. But guess what?" She stood with one hand on her hip, the other on her hair, which was pulled back by her hand.

"What?"

"I love you too." And with that she took off. She ran down the path and along the beach. I watched her run for a bit, making sure that she wasn't going to fall before running after her.

It was almost dark when we got back to the site, winded and hot. I hadn't run on the beach in a long time, and I knew I would be sore when I woke up tomorrow. I noticed immediately that the fire was dying down, and went over to build it up again. While I was doing that Bella somehow managed to get the cooler down from the tree, and brought it over to the picnic table, opening it up.

"Hmm…Cheese, eggs, crackers, bread, water, juice, and coffee mix. What would you like?" Her voice was tired, and I wondered how long it would be before we were both fast asleep. I looked over at her and laughed. She had put on her pajamas, had a coat on, and had a blanket over her also. It was much colder than when we first left, but I didn't think it was that bad. Then again I didn't recently move to Alaska from Florida, either.

"The eggs are tomorrow, and so is some of the bread, and coffee. I'll have a cheese sandwich." I answered her easily. I didn't care if I looked stupid, I really liked cheese sandwiches.

"Yum." She sat at the picnic table, with her feet underneath her, somehow making the sandwiches and keeping the blanket around her at the same time. She was back with them incredibly fast, with everything put away already. She sat next to me and we ate in silence, tired. I looked over to see that she was shivering.

"Bella, come here. Why didn't you tell me you were cold?" I held my arms out to her, and she sat in my lap, burying her face in my neck.

"'Cos I didn't want you to feel bad." I struggled to make out the words that were muffled by my neck.

"Oh…I see. Why don't you go get settled into my sleeping bag? We'll put yours over you. I'm going to put up the cooler so we don't have any unwanted visitors." I stood up, standing her up next to me. I easily put the cooler up in the air this time, and went into the tent, zipping it behind me.

All that I could see of Bella was a lump under the blankets. She had turned on a small lantern in the corner, and I brought it over to the sleeping bag. I took hers and unzipped it, making it into a blanket, and putting it over the sleeping bag on the floor. Then I crawled in next to Bella, very glad that I'd opted for a wide sleeping bag, so we'd both fit. I switched off the lantern and laid next to Bella, wrapping my arms around her so she could soak up my body heat.

I could feel her tremble beneath me. I hadn't realized how cold she had been, and instantly felt guilty for not paying better attention. I remembered the cabin and quickly slithered out of the sleeping bag, picking her up with it still wrapped around her.

"Edward. What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting you warm. I rented a backup cabin. I think it would be put to good use now." I set her down only to open the door, and then picked her back up and set her in the seat. I jumped in and started the engine, and drove down the isolated dirt road to where they kept the cabins.

The cabin was small and made of log. It had a small porch that went to the edge of the cliff, with a tall railing. I knew that the view would be amazing when I got the chance to go and look. Right now, though, I needed to get Bella warm. It wouldn't do any good for her to get sick.

Once I had Bella tucked in bed, with the blankets provided over her still in the sleeping bag I went over and cranked the thermostat. It would be 75 degrees in here soon, and started a small fire in the stove near the kitchen area to help it warm up faster. I decided to go back to the campsite and pick up what I could quickly, since I didn't plan on going back to the tent site. I checked in with Bella, who was watching television, and told her where I was going. She offered to help but I declined, simply because I didn't want her to get cold again now that it had warmed up.

I locked the door on my way out, to assure myself she would be safe. I found the site again, with a little difficulty, and managed to pack up just about everything. I glanced at my watch. It was nearly midnight already. I was surprised that I didn't feel exhausted, but I was sure that I would as soon as I lay down. It was something that I'd learned when I was in high school. As long as I didn't lie down, I could stay up even if I was exhausted. It was like my body didn't acknowledge it until it had a chance to relax. Even now, I still used this to my advantage if I had to work long hours down at the office.

I found my way back to the cabin and unlocked the door. I set everything down in the living area and went into the bedroom where Bella was, exactly as I'd left her. I smiled down at the woman in the blankets who had managed to steal my heart away so quickly. I wasn't worried about the kiss; I'd known we were ready for it for quite some time. I just hoped she didn't think differently, and that she knew I didn't regret it.

"Bella?" I kneeled on the bed, and then dropped to my side so I could lie next to her.

"Hmm?"

"What are you feeling right this second?" I looked her in the eyes when she turned to look at me.

"I'm warm, if that's what you mean. And I'm starting to get tired."

"But Emotionally?" I prodded.

"Happy."

She held her arms out to me and I held her, pressing her body into mine. It wasn't a sexual thing; it was simply being close to her. I put my hand underneath her chin and lifted it up, so that I could kiss her.

The kiss wasn't as deep as the first, and it seemed to sooth her rather than excite. After I had brought the kiss to an end I rested my hand on the back of her neck, where her stitches had been. The doctor had taken them out at the check up, at the end of her week in bed. I was grateful for the cut to heal so quickly, and Bella was relieved to be able to shower by herself once again. I pulled her head towards me gently, and let her rest it on the curve of my neck.

Every once in a while I would kiss her hair, or pull back far enough to kiss her forehead, while she was sleeping. She slept soundly, with a look of peace on her face. I wiggled out of her grasp to go and plug my phone in. I normally would have just let it die, not wanting any interruptions from work, but Emmett had promised to call if anything went wrong with Connor, or if a date was set for Jacobs trial. I fumbled with the charger, trying to put it in the wall, and dropped it. It banged against the floor quite loudly for its size, and I froze. I looked over at Bella who had moved a bit but hadn't woken up, and sighed in relief. I would feel bad if I had woken her; she'd had a long day.

I picked it back up and stuck it in the wall, mumbling to myself about how surely if I could represent people in court I could be smart enough to plug something into an outlet. I found the suitcase I had packed and put on some silk pajama pants, not bothering with a shirt. I had also secretly packed Bella some more comfortable clothes, for if we did resort to the cabin. It wouldn't do any good if she was stuck with her long sleeved shirts and sweatshirts, and got heatstroke while I was trying to protect her from the cold.

I walked back into the bedroom and unzipped the sleeping bag around Bella. She would get too hot to be in the sleeping bag and under the blankets, and the selfish part of me would rather her wake up while I was getting her out of it than not be able to sleep under the same blankets as her. I was lucky, though. Bella barely stirred while I eased the sleeping bag out from under her.

I barely noticed I'd fallen asleep, and didn't wake until jerked from sleep by the song playing from my phone.

Some had messaged me a bit worried I would just end the story with the kiss. Don't worry! I would never do that to you!

This is tomorrows chapter early. I couldn't resist. So if you don't get one tomorrow, this was supposed to be it. I also have polls up, so go vote! (It's the whole chapter thing. I think i know what i'm going to do, but not positive.)