Hi, you are correct, this is me posting an update for Rock Bottom! :D If you have stuck with me, I thank you very much. I must seem so flighty, lmao.

Anyway, here's chapter 11

"…lied to me?" I pulled away from him and got off the bed. I grabbed a t-shirt off the floor and put it on, and tried to calm the panic that was beginning to wash over me.

"Wait, please let me explain. I promise you, whatever you are thinking, it's not it." He reached for my arm and pulled me toward him. I resisted a bit, and refused to meet his eyes.

"Bella…" His voice was soft and pleading as he gently tugged on my arm. "Look at me."

I reluctantly lifted my eyes to meet his. His face was sad and remorseful, his brow was creased and his eyes were looking back and forth between my own. He tugged my arm once more, and I acquiesced, sitting down next to him despite his efforts to pull me into his lap. He sighed.

"I was in New Hampshire, not taking that accelerated class like I told you. Chloe has been doing better. They are looking into releasing her and letting her try to start her life again. Her doctors have been evaluating her and she wanted me to come see her. I went; I needed some closure, I guess. I never really got any when I left the first time since I just wanted to get away from that situation entirely. She wasn't really in a state for me to tell her everything I needed to when I left New Hampshire, either."

I nodded, understanding. He couldn't tell me that yet when he met me in the parking lot that night he asked me out.

"I'm sorry." I looked at him, feeling foolish for reacting before he even had a chance to explain. "I shouldn't have jumped to a conclusion."

He shook his head and slid his arm around my shoulder. "I really should have phrased it differently. Just saying 'I lied to you' probably wasn't very smart of me."

I turned and pressed my cheek into his bare chest. He was warm and soft and smelled like something that made me feel at home. He tightened his arm and lay back on the bed.

"What did she say to you when you met with her?" I snuggled a little closer and placed my hand on his chest. The mood of this visit to his bedroom had taken a complete 180.

"She apologized to me. She's a lot better now, but she still has issues that they are working on. She probably won't be back to her old self for a long time, but she's getting there. I wish there was more I could do to help her and her parents, but I did that. I did that for so long, it's not my place anymore. She knows that she hurt me in ways that she will never atone for. She told me when I left this last time that she wouldn't burden me any longer. She wants me to move on, too. I'm tired of being angry at her. She did horrible things to me, but I just don't want to hold that resentment anymore, you know?"

He took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry. I had been dealing with this and now, it just seems to have blown up all over again. I should have told you."

"Edward, when else would you have told me? It's really only been a week. I'm not upset with you. You didn't really keep anything from me. I understand why you didn't tell me until now."

"I know, but I should have told you earlier tonight. I'm sorry."

He squeezed me a little tighter to him and began to shift his body. He shifted until his head was on the pillows and he tugged me along with him.

"It's late; we should probably try to get some sleep. I'm sure you are probably tired."

I agreed with him whole heartedly. Today just seemed to drain me and I suddenly felt exhausted. I adjusted the pillows and Edward gingerly tugged the comforter out from underneath us. We twisted and turned until we were all settled in, facing the right way, and comfortable under the blankets. He rested on his back, turned so he was facing me a bit, with my head against his chest.

He shifted a bit more to his side, sliding his hand over my forehead and letting it rest on my cheek. He tilted my face up to look at him.

"Thank you." His voice was soft.

"For what?"

"Just listening to me, and dealing with me. I feel like I am a project."

"You aren't a project, Edward. You just have things in your past. It doesn't define who you are."

His eyes glowed with gratitude as he leaned in to kiss me. His lips moved against mine in a soft, unhurried manner. He moved his hand down to the base of my neck and tilted my head to kiss me deeper. We just kissed slowly for a few moments until he pulled back.

"Goodnight." He kissed me one more time before resting his forehead against mine.

"Night," I whispered and snuggled down into his chest.

I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take me. Edward was sliding his fingers through my hair and I was quickly getting lulled to sleep by his ministrations. The last thing I felt were his lips pressed to my forehead.

***

When I awoke in the morning, the sun was streaming directly into my eyes through the large, east facing window in his bedroom. I shifted a little to bury my face in my pillow and felt Edward's arms tighten around me. I could feel his face pressed in between my shoulders and his arms were wrapped around my waist with his hands under my shirt and splayed out over my stomach.

"Not time to wake up yet," he mumbled into my back and slid his hands higher up my stomach. I settled back against him, not ready to get up either.

We lapsed again into silence. I figured he had fallen back asleep, as I looked out the window at the morning sun through the trees behind the cottage.

"You are warm," he offered unexpectedly and slid his body up so he could press his face into my neck. He sounded almost like he was still asleep.

"Thank you?" I laughed.

"You're welcome."

I laughed to myself a little as he started to leave sloppy kisses on my neck. I squirmed away, giggling and he gripped me tighter.

"What time is it?" he asked, placing one more lingering kiss to my neck before he began to disentangle his body from my own.

"Quarter after nine," I responded, glancing at the alarm clock on the bed side table.

He rolled onto his back and I turned over to look at him. I rested my head on my hand and placed the other hand on his chest. He was rubbing the sleep from his eyes before he looked up at me.

"Do you want some breakfast? We could go to the diner on the way back to your house."

"That sounds wonderful, I'm starving. Can I take a shower first, though? I have chlorine in my hair and its making it very unmanageable, I'm sure."

He glanced up to take in the state of my hair and a smile spread across his face.

"I don't know if 'unmanageable' is the right word, but 'haystack' sure is." I could see the mirth in his eyes and he tried not to burst out laughing at my expense.

I groaned and my hands flew up in an attempt to smooth it down. Edward sat up and grabbed my hands before leaning in to kiss me softly.

"You look fine. Go ahead and take a shower and then we will go have a lovely breakfast before I have to return you to your father."

I nodded and he kissed me again, and then released my hands.

"There are towels in the cabinet next to the shower. There is shampoo and everything in there too, if you need it. My mother frequently stocks the bathroom with toiletries. I think that she's been hoping, for a while now, that I would bring a girl here who would need them and you will make her day." He was smiling at me, a bit of a twinkle in his eye.

"Well, I would be glad to make your mother's day then." I smiled back and slid out of the bed. I walked over to my over night bag and bent down to extract some clean clothes when I heard Edward gasp behind me. I whipped around to look at him.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" I walked back to the bed to make sure he was all right. He was sitting with his eyes closed and his jaw clenched.

"I just forgot that you didn't put shorts or anything on last night before we went to sleep. And now I'm remembering what our plans were when we came back here last night." His eyes were considerably darker when he opened them to look at me.

"Oh, um," I bit my lip and tried to remain composed, but now images of last night began to flood my mind. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I opened them after a moment and leaned down to press a soft kiss to his lips before pulling back to press them to his ear.

"Soon," was all I said before I turned and walked across the hall into the bathroom. I closed the door and made sure to lock it, so Edward wouldn't come barging through and take me against the counter.

On second thought…

I shook my head and started the shower. I pulled a few towels out of the cabinet and found a few bottles of shampoo and conditioner on the bottom shelf. I smiled and made a mental note to thank Esme.

I showered quickly and packed up my bag. Edward was waiting for me in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee. I leaned next to him on the counter.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"Much better. Your mother picked the perfect shampoo, too. I'll be sure to thank her the next time I see her."

He smiled and set his coffee down. He turned and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me snuggly to his chest.

"May I have a proper good morning kiss?"

I smiled up at him. "I suppose so. You kissed me for the first time in this very spot."

He looked around and smiled. "So I did. But I think that you were," he tightened his arms around me and lifted me to sit on the counter, "here. Am I right?"

"Mmm, you are very correct."

He chuckled before capturing my lips with his. He lips moved quickly and with purpose. Both of his hinds came up to grip the back of my head, his fingers threading through my damp hair. He pressed his lips more forcefully to mine, using his hands in my hair as leverage. I whimpered softly as he slid his tongue along my lips and I parted them with a soft sigh. I slid my hands under his shirt, splaying my hands out over his stomach and sliding them around to rest on his lower back. He stepped closer to me and I dug my fingers into his skin, raking them up a little. He groaned and tugged on my lower lip with his teeth, sucking on it roughly. He slowed the kiss after that, skimming his hands down my bare arms and placing a few soft kisses on my lips. I slid my hands back around his stomach and pressed them there. With one final kiss he pulled back and cupped my cheek.

"Good morning." He was smiling a little devilishly at me.

I sighed. "Good morning indeed. You should come to my house and wish me a good morning like that everyday."

"Hmmm," he seemed to ponder as he wrapped his arms around my back. "I doubt the Chief would care for me cornering you in the kitchen and having my way with you. Which I would. Every morning." He had moved his face closer to mine and whispered the last part. I shuddered lightly and looked up at him through my eyelashes. He was smirking and swooped down for one more kiss before whispering "soon" against my lips. This was starting to become our mantra. At this rate though, 'soon' was going to be in the next 5 minutes.

He helped me down off of the counter and grabbed his keys from the hook over the stove. We walked towards the front door and I grabbed my bag on the way. He led me to the passenger door and took my bag from me, tossing it into the trunk quickly before rounding the back of the car and taking his seat behind the wheel.

***

After breakfast, we headed back to my house. Breakfast had been quiet; we talked about how he wasn't planning on going back to work at Sofie's this summer because he wanted to enjoy his last summer before he graduated college. He was going to live it up, and I guess that included me.

When we got home, Charlie was there. I presumed he had taken the day off, or was doing the night shift tonight so that he could be home when Edward dropped me off. We pulled into the driveway and got out. Edward walked around to my side of the car and pulled me in for a hug.

"I'll call you this week sometime, so we can get together, okay?"

I nodded, placing my hands on his chest. "I have my weekend with Alice this weekend and work, but we will figure something out. Maybe I can stop by after work one night."

He pressed his lips to my forehead. "That sounds fine. Just call me and let me know. Sometimes I go out with Emmett, so I just want to make sure that I'm home."

I smiled up at him and he kissed me gently. He pulled back, smoothing my hair down and pressing a soft kiss to my cheek. My stomach fluttered.

"Your dad is waiting by the door; you better head in before he comes out here and harms me." He was chuckling but I could tell he was a little worried that my father would indeed harm him. He popped the trunk open, pulled my bag out, and walked me to the door, waving to my father through the window before he slid his hand down my arm.

"I'll talk to you in a few days."

I nodded and waved as he got in his car and pulled out. I turned and headed into the house a little forlornly. I had just spent 24 hours with Edward and shared his bed for the night. How was I going to go on now for the rest of the week?

When I got inside, Charlie was waiting for me by the stairs.

"Hi, dad," I greeted as I closed the door behind me.

"Hi. Did you have a nice time?"

"Very nice. The Cullens are lovely, and they have an enormous house. It was a lot of fun."

"Good, good." He smiled, but it seemed that he was just getting pleasantries out of the way. "You seem to be getting serious with this boy. Are you?"

"I guess I am." I smiled but I was starting to feel a bit of panic. Could I do this? Could I be a good girlfriend? What if this was something else that I failed at? I pushed the white, hot fear that began to bubble in my stomach down. I was being absurd.

"So you are telling me that I'm going to be seeing a lot of him?"

I smiled and decided to tease him. "You don't have to see him. I could always just go to his house all the time. He doesn't even need to come here; his house is closer to Sofie's anyway…"

"No, no. He can come here on occasion, I don't mind. I'd actually like to get to know him a bit. I know his parents from having to work a bit in Port Angeles for some things. Very nice people."

I nodded in agreement and started up the stairs. "I'll be back down in a bit. I'm gonna do some laundry. I'm a bit behind and running out of clothes."

"Sounds good. I have to head into work around 3, so you are on your own for dinner. Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, it's no problem." I smiled and made my way to my bedroom. I was anxious to get away from everything so that I could collect the thoughts that were beginning to wash over me. I sat down on my bed and buried my head in my hands.

Why was this happening to me now? Edward and I were great, so why was I automatically assuming the worst?

***

The rest of the week did nothing to calm my fears. Between work, home and other things that seemed to crop up, like an exploding dishwasher that I had to sit around and wait for the repair man, I hadn't gotten a chance to see Edward at all this week. The one night I was free and might get to see him, he told me that Emmett had kidnapped him and taken him to Seattle for a party. I told him I wasn't upset, and I wasn't. But, I had this panic that was creeping in on me. Why weren't we syncing up like we had; we just seemed to be moving past each other.

Saturday morning came and I was packed and ready for my weekend with Alice. I said goodbye to Charlie and was on my way to Alice's apartment when my cell phone rang at a stop light. I pulled my phone out of my purse and answered it hurriedly.

"Hello?"

"Bella! Oh, Bella please tell me you haven't left yet!"

"Yeah, I left about fifteen minutes ago. Why? Do you need something?"

"Shit! I am so sorry Bella. Jasper surprised me with this getaway and I feel horrible because it's our weekend for our girl time. I can tell him no if you are upset about it."

"Alice. Don't worry about it! It's not a big deal at all, we can just do it next weekend, I don't mind at all. Go have fun with Jasper, and enjoy yourself."

"Are you absolutely sure? I don't want you to lie to me and tell me you are ok with it when you aren't."

"It's perfectly fine. Go, have a wonderful time and you can tell me all about it when you get back, okay?"

There was a moment of silence before the other end of the line exploded.

"Oh my God, Bella thank you, thank you! I will make this up to you like you would not believe. I'll take you shopping and buy you anything you want, lingerie for Edward, a car, anything."

I laughed. "Alice, it's fine. Just go!"

She squealed once more and we said our goodbyes.

Well, crap. Now what am I going to do with my weekend?

I continued my drive to Port Angeles and was struck with an idea. I had all weekend free and Charlie thought I was going to be with Alice for the entirety of it. I turned into a gas station and pulled my cell phone out again. I glanced at the clock; it was quarter to eleven. Edward should be up by now.

The phone rang 3 times before he finally answered and he seemed groggy and a bit out of breath.

"Hello?" I giggled softly at his sleep voice.

"Were you still sleeping?"

I could hear his smile when he responded. "Maybe. What do I owe this phone call so early in my morning? Shouldn't you be off doing girly things with Alice right now?"

I grinned as he asked the right questions.

"Well, it seems there has been a change of plans. Jasper, boyfriend extraordinaire, surprised Alice with a lovely weekend getaway and she cancelled on me. I was just wondering if you wanted to have a sleep over with me this weekend instead, being as Charlie will be under the impression that I am with Alice."

There was a slight pause on the other end of the phone as he digested my request and took in my meaning.

"Where are you?"

"I'm about to get gas in Port Angeles."

"When will you be here?"

I smiled at his eagerness.

"Soon."

If you think sexy times are going to happen next chapter, you are right. ;)

oh, also. I'm planning on having Bella and Edward have a cute little get away together in the near future, do you have suggestions? I'm thinking a weekend away at the beach or something, but I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts!