Chapter 5:

Throughout dinner we talked about random things. All of Edward's past birthday's and stuff like that. It finally rolled around to desert time and they came out with this gorgeous cake that apparently Esme made. It is delicious.

"Oh my goodness Esme. This is amazing!" I said while taking a bite.

"Thank you, dear."

"Present time!" Alice said and grabbed Carlisle and Esme's first. He wasn't as embarressed as everyone thought he would be about the boxers. In fact he laughed really hard. It was so good to see him so happy.

He thanked everyone for everything and when it was time for mine Alice said something I didn't want to hear.

"Sorry, I must have forgotten it," Alice said. I sighed.

"It's okay. We will just have to stop by the dorm to pick it up."

"Yep," Alice said. She definantely was up to something. I pulled her over to the side while we were saying our goodbyes.

"Alice, you forgot? Or you meant to do this? Truth please," I said.

"Okay, well it is actually in your bag. I thought you figured it out, but I guess you didn't. I just thought it would be more romantic if you two were alone."

"Well thanks for being considerate," I said and she nodded and I gave her a hug.

"Have fun tonight. I won't call in the morning to make sure you are okay," Alice whispered into my ear and I laughed.

"Oh, I will."

We got into his car and he drove home.

"Thank you so much Bella. This has been so far the best birthday," he said.

"Your welcome. Sorry about your gift. Alice said that she put it in my bag before I left to go to your place yesterday. I didn't know that she did it, but good news is that we can go just straight there."

"Don't worry about it."

We walked into his dorm and I went to get the present from the bag. Sure enough, it was there. On my way over to sit by him on the couch I took my heels off. I put my knees up while snuggling close to him on the couch. I gave him his present then.

He opened it and was very happy for it. He absolutely loves it. I smiled.

"When was this picture taken?" he asked.

"Umm...last month by Alice I believe. I like it."

"I do too," he said and smiled and gave me a kiss. "Thank you."

"Your welcome," I said and he walked over to put the picture on display and the music store giftcard in his wallet.

I stood up and threw all of the wrapping paper away. While I did this, Edward came up from behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my neck and trailed kisses all the way down to my shoulder. A shiver went through my whole body and I smiled.

I turned around to where I am facing him and put my fingers in his hair. He picked me up and set me on the kitchen couter to have a better access point. When I needed air I broke apart and let him trail kisses down my neck. My heart was pounding loudly at all of this new touching we had going on. He picked me up again and somehow we managed to get all the way to his bedroom. I started to take off his shirt and he unzipped my dress.

When we were done I have never felt so alive and refreshed. I felt like I had just walked out of heaven. It was just so good! We were both a little messy of course, but I flipped over on my stomach and brought my hand to his hair.

"Happy birthday," I said.

"I love you," he responded. And there was nothing left to be said. I fell asleep in his arms feeling loved and safe. I have not once felt that way until now.

When I woke up the next morning I noticed Edward was already awake. I knew this because he was moving his hand up and down my spine. I let out a little laugh. I couldn't help myself. I was just so unbelievably happy.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked with amusement in his voice.

"Nothing really," I said honestly. He let it drop.

"What do you want for breakfast?" he asked.

"What do you have?"

"Well, there is waffles, pancakes, toast, eggs, cereal, and many others."

"Cereal," I said and started to get up. On my way up I went up and gave Edward a good morning kiss. I put on some sweatpants and one of Edward's shirts when I got out of bed. He is just wearing some basketball shorts and a shirt.

I went into the bathroom and looked at myself. All of my features looked brighter and happier than before. I know that isn't really possible, but it felt so now. My hair is a hopeless mess, so I just threw it up not wanting to deal with it.

We ate breakfast together in a peaceful silence. When we were finished we decided to watch a movie and just have a lazy day. At noon is when Alice decided to call me. I sighed and picked it up.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Bella. What are you guys doing?" Alice asked.

"Lazy day," I responded and she laughed.

"So, what did you guys do when you got home last night?"

"Do you really want to know?" I answered her.

"Gross! What I was getting at was the present. Did he like it?" she said and I laughed.

"Oh right. Yes, of course."

"Good. Alright you two crazy kids have fun. Jasper and I are going to head down to the beach with Rose and Em. Want to join us?" she asked.

"Let me ask," I said and turned to asked Edward. He wanted to, so I said we were in.

"Great! Don't wear the blue and green bikini I packed you though," she said.

"Why? And what am I supposed to wear? Do you want me going naked?" Edward looked at me odd when I said this. I just shook my head and rolled my eyes.

"No! I am going to wear something just like it. Wear your pink and gold one. You know the one I got you for your birthday? Its in your bag too," she said.

"Alright, boss. See you soon. We might grab lunch before. Meet you there in like an hour or so?"

"Sure. Bye, Bella," she said and hung up.

Edward and I just ate lunch here and then got ready to go. Once all of our sunscreen and stuff was on, we left. He insisted on driving today because I drove all day yesterday.

When we arrived we saw the boys throwing a football back and forth and the girls tanning. Edward went to join the guys while I went over to sit with Alice and Rose.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Well hello there Bella. Alice tells me we don't want to know what happened last night between you and Edward?" Rose said and I grimanced at them.

"No, you really don't," I said with a shy smile and looked down. They didn't bother me about it and just kept to themselves for the rest of the time we were alone together.

(A/N: I am going to skip them so that they are now graduating from college. All of them are still together of course. But don't be mad at me. I am just having writer's block and can't think of anything to write unless it entails the future.)

****FOUR YEARS LATER****

Emmett and Rose had already graduated and moved on with their lives last year. I still saw them regularly though. Alice, Jasper, Edward and I graduated a week ago. It felt great. Edward and I already had a job lined up and everything. Edward is a lawyer and I am a high school teacher. The school I did my internship at decided that if I wanted a job, I could get it there. I was so excited. I will teach Freshman English classes.

Edward and I have the summer off. The first thing we want to do is get an apartment together. Since we worked our way through college we still had a little money left over. Plus, if we were ever in dire need of money, Carlisle and Esme would always help us out. For the time being until we get an apartment they are letting us stay with them. We had their garage packed with boxes until we 'moved out'.

"Thank you so much for doing this," I said to Esme as we packed the last box into the garage.

"It really is not a big deal. Your family, stay as long as you need," she said.

"Well I'm not techniquely family...," I said.

"You will be," I heard her muttered. I thought it was something that I shouldn't hear so I pretended I didn't.

"So I hear you are going to be working at Canyon High School? That sounds exciting," Esme said as we started waling into the house.

"Yes, I am very excited. I just love teaching English and learning new ways to teach kids. It is just so exciting. My goal is to open up the kids' minds and introduce them to how to love reading. Thats how I learned to love, is by being forced to read. Even though they might hate me, they will thank me later," I said and she laughed.

"Sounds like a plan to me," she said.

"Are you boring my mother with your excitement?" Edward asked as he walked in. I glarred and then laughed playfully with him.

"Maybe. Sorry, I can't contain myself!" I said.

"Its alright. I just came to say thanks mom. We will be out of here as soon as we can so that you can have your garage back."

"Oh, please. It is no problem. Stay for as long as you need," she told him and we both smiled warmly. "Now, I am off to work. Keep the house under control while I am gone."

"Will do," Edward said as Esme walked out the front door. I went up and gave Edward a hug. and he held me close.

"We did it!" I said and he laughed.

"Yes, we did. Shall we start apartment hunting?" he asked.

"Sure. We need to find a happy middle so niether of us will have to comute too far."

"Your so smart," Edward said.

"I know," I replied and he smiled and picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I laughed and kicked him telling him to put me down. He never did as we made our way up to his room. He set me down on his bed and we looked it up on his laptop. We found a really nice complex and it was affordable. Tomorrow we will drive down to see what it looks like.

"Alright," he said and closed the laptop and set it on his nightstand before rolling on top of me. "Now that that's done," he said and bent down to kiss me. I broke apart and he trailed kisses down my neck.

"That was one! I really think we should think about other alternatives as well. Stop it!" I said as he tried to undress me. He looked up and frowned. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes, and we will look later if that is not what we want," he said and then proceeded to kiss my neck.

"Edward! Not in your parents house!" I said.

"I lived here too," he said.

"Yes, well I just feel like we are disrespecting them in a way. Can't we just wait until we get our own place? I know you can do it," I said and he huffed and rolled off of me.

"I don't think I can," he said.

"Why do you think I am suggesting looking at other places right now?" I asked.

"Alright," he said and we went back to apartment hunting.