BPOV

Chapter 4:

My head was spinning, and I wanted to disappear. I sat on the edge of Rosalie's bed with my head between my knees, taking deep breaths. As soon as we were upstairs and away from everyone else, I told Rose and Alice not to speak until I was ready. My dizziness started to drift away, so I sat up slowly. I looked to Alice, and then to Rose, and saw nothing but worry in their eyes. I took one last deep inhale, before I decided to speak.

"What the hell is going on?" I said quietly, my voice cracking. Rose came and sat next to me putting her arm over my shoulder. I leaned into her comforted by her gesture.

"I didn't know anything about this until just before you showed up, babe. I swear," she said in remorse. I looked up to her and tried to smile, but all I wanted to do was cry. Instead, I nodded for her to continue.

"Emmett told me that Mark, Angela, and one of their friends would be coming to stay the weekend here..." I cut her off.

"He's staying the weekend?" I gasped out almost choking. "I can't be here, Rose. I'm sorry." I started to get up but she pulled me back down.

"Bella, please, listen to her," Alice said softly. I sat back down unwillingly, as Rosalie continued on more quickly.

"I didn't even recognize him until Emmett introduced him to me as Edward, and then I heard Angela ask him what France was like, and everything clicked. Apparently he is good friends with Mark and used to work at his bar... the bar that Emmett works weekends at which is how Emmett met him, and invited him here," she was out of breath. "I couldn't just tell Emmett to make him leave without explaining why, and you made me promise to never tell anyone," she said, looking down to her lap. I suddenly felt like the biggest bitch for thinking so wrongly of the situation. I reached for Rosalie's hand and squeezed it in mine.

"It's alright, Rose. It's not your fault," I said smiling.

"Please don't leave," she said pleadingly. "I haven't seen or spent time with you guys in so long!" She was right. I couldn't just leave. I couldn't just let him make me feel so un-glued.

"I'm not going to leave, babe," I replied. She looked up at me and smiled before hugging me tightly. Alice squealed and clapped her hands together.

"Well, are you going to be alright with this?" Rose asked hesitantly. I thought about it for a moment before answering her.

"Yes, I'll be fine. I won't allow him to affect me like this," I said strongly. I was a little unsure at my words, but I would try.

"What are you going to do?" Alice asked.

"About what?" I replied with raised eyebrows.

"About Ed...him," She said correcting herself mid-sentence.

"What about him, Alice?" I wasn't understanding what she was really trying to ask.

"I mean, aren't you... or shouldn't you..." she sighed loudly before continuing. "What about Grace? Aren't you going to tell him? He wouldn't even care.

"No, I'm not. Why would I? After Sunday, I will never have to see him again," I said waving my hand in the air.

"You said that 4 years ago, Bella," Alice replied evenly.

"Alice, why does it matter? What the fuck am I supposed to say?" I was getting angry so I stood up. "'Hey, so when you left for another country I was here having our illegitimate, drunken one night stand, love child?' Are you kidding me, right now?" She stepped forward surprised.

"No, I just thought, I mean, you never know. Maybe he would like to know about her! You don't know anything about him, Bella!" Alice retorted.

"You're right, I don't. And you know why? He never cared enough to stick around to find out! He left a false number for God's sake!" I spit back.

"Think of Grace, Bella. What if she would one day like to know her father, and she finds out that you REFUSED to tell him about her given the chance!" I stood right in front of her furiously.

"You did not just say that, Al" I seethed out. "He left me! He has NO RIGHT to know her!" I yelled out.

"Be quiet!" Rose whispered out fiercely, coming to stand between us. Alice and I lowered our voices but continued our argument anyway.

"What if the tables were turned, huh?" Alice asked. I'd thought about that before, so I knew exactly how to answer her.

"If I was as heartless as he was, taking advantage of some girl and then leaving, I wouldn't feel that I had the right to know, either," I said firmly.

"Bella, You weren't that drunk, and neither was he. You know that as a fact."

"Regardless! He used me, Alice! And when he got what he wanted, he left!" Tears started to swell up in my eyes. "He left me, Alice. I have raised her on my own, with help from you guys when you could, but she is mine. I won't let him interfere with her life like that, when he could just turn around and leave again," I said quietly. Tears met my cheeks and I backed away from her. Alice let her shoulders fall as I started to see tears meet her cheeks as well. I put my head in my hands and felt her come over to me and wrap her arms around me.

"I'm sorry. I'm just afraid. I never thought I would be faced with this," I said truthfully.

"I know, baby. I'm sorry I got so angry. I just worry, you know?" she said into my shoulder. I nodded my head and we didn't part from our hug for a while, letting silent tears fall. I needed to pull myself together, and quick. I came here to have a good time, and I was going to, regardless of him. I pulled away from Alice and we giggled.

"Are you guys done now?" Rosalie said jokingly. We looked over to her and smiled. "Come on, let's have some fun! Bella, I want you to try your hardest to pretend that he isn't who he is, okay? Pretend that you have just met him! You don't even have to talk to him. Alice and I will make sure that he isn't alone with you, deal?" I nodded my head quickly.

"And hey," she said sweetly. "People can change Bella. You never really knew him, and you don't know who he is now. Maybe you two could turn out as friends," she said quickly. I shot her a look and smiled. Fat chance. I stood up and walked to the bathroom, desperately needing a Kleenex.

"I'll meet you girls downstairs," Rose called from the bedroom. Alice came over to me and started to pull my long hair out of it's braid as I wiped my eyes.

"You know what we're going to do?" she said with a smirk. I looked at her in the mirror and laughed.

"What's that?" I replied smirking back.

"We're going to make you so hot this entire weekend, that he will regret ever letting you go," she said brightly. I laughed at her. I could handle that. It might actually be kind of fun.

"Yes, let's," I said in an evil tone. I smiled at her again and felt my heart loosen from it's constriction. I would have fun with this.

EPOV

What the hell was I thinking in coming here? My thoughts were louder than the voices right next to me as I sat in a reclined wooden deck chair sipping on a beer. How did any of this happen? How couldn't I have thought more about it? Of course I would see her again, and to be honest, I wanted too. Except, not like this. I felt like we were thrown into a fire with no chance of an escape. Or chained to the bottom of the cold ocean slowly drowning. The look in her eyes completely terrified me. She had such hate towards me, and I couldn't blame her. I was so insensitive to her all those years ago. You're such an idiot. I was afraid! I made a mistake, and I would try to fix it. If you could just let in your heart. Even if she never wanted to see me again, I would find a way to apologize to her, and explain myself. I don't expect her to be my friend, or anything more. You want that. I wasn't allowed to want that. For all I know, she's happily married and has two kids! I hope not. Shit, I needed to stop thinking.

"Edward?" Mark said pulling me from my inner battle. "Are you alright, man?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," I lied.

"I'm sorry. If I had known that she would be here, I would have told you," he said looking guilty.

"You didn't know. It's not your fault, and It's going to be fine. I was just caught off guard, that's all," I whispered calmly. Yeah, go with that. Before I could fight back in my head, Bella walked out onto the deck in a stunning thick white turtle neck sweater, and some skinny jeans. No shoes, just thick socks. She's trying to kill me. I forced my eyes off of her and down to the bottleneck beer in my hands. I tried to start reading the label, looking preoccupied, but failed miserably. Still having my head looking down, I pulled my eyes upward to see her pulling a chair over to rest of us, and sitting back into it with ease. She took a long sip of her wine, and put her head back on the chair. Her long wavy hair draped over her shoulders, and her chest rising with each breath.

"Edwardo!" Emmett said loudly, making me jump. "Hey, you know some french, right?" I nodded my head at him, and tried not to focus on Bella who was now looking at me. Rosalie and Alice had come out and joined the circle of chairs that we were now in.

"How do you say, 'I love you,'" he asked looking over to Rosalie.

"Je t'aime," I replied clearly. Emmett looked over to Rosalie and tried to mimmick me. Rosalie smiled and we all laughed at his attempt of a french accent.

"How do I say it back?" Rosalie asked.

"Je t'aime aussi," I said. She repeated my words and did a much better job, in turn making Emmett blush.

"That's so cool!" Emmett said. "Do you know any other languages?"

"Yeah, I know how to curse in German," I replied smiling.

"No way! How do you say, 'fuck?'" Rosalie reached over and smacked his arm. I laughed.

"Ficken."

"HA! Ficken!" Emmett said laughing hysterically.

"Why do you only know curse words?" Bella asked smirking. She spoke to me. Her voice was so soft, and sweet despite the small amount of venom in her tone.

"Well, when I was a kid, my mom always scolded my dad for cussing in front of me, so he started to do it in German. When I was a teenager, I started looking up what the words actually meant," I said sheepishly. Everyone began to laugh again and I felt like I could die happy hearing her laugh.

"How'd you learn french?" Alice asked in her high voice.

"I took it in college," I said smiling. She nodded her head and we all got quiet. It became awkward after a moment before Angela spoke up.

"Is there anything I can help you with with dinner, Rosalie?"

"Sure," she said looking down to her wrist watch. "It's actually about done, now." All four girls stood up and headed back inside. I felt strange not having Bella close to me, but I forced that feeling away quickly. I would just sit and go with the flow of this weekend.

Dinner came and went and I had to admit, for a lawyer who worked constantly, Rosalie sure can cook a good turkey. The dinner conversations really helped us all loosen up with each other. Mark and Emmett told stories about drunk people they have encountered at the bar. Bella took a call and went outside, and when she returned, she seemed more happy and lively. It made me wonder if it was her husband she was talking to, and that had my heart hurting. I didn't notice a ring, but that didn't always mean something. Alice's husband Jasper showed up after dinner, and we decided to play a board game called Apples to Apples. It was a strange game, but hilarious. Jasper and Bella tying in cards at the end, declaring themselves the champions. Bella sat next to me the entire game making it hard for me to focus. Even though she hadn't spoken to me since before dinner, I didn't really care. At least I was able to be next to her. I found myself wondering if she could ever care for me. Although, I held so much baggage, so many problems that I needed to deal with first. Her smell was intoxicating. It was hard to believe that we had had sex before, because everything about her felt so unfamiliar. I wanted to know the deepest part of her, and for her to want to tell me, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to tell her about me. Don't get your hopes up. Once the night started to dwindle down, the respective couples cuddled together on the couch, or went out onto the deck. I found myself sitting alone in front of the fire feeling pretty content in my thoughts. I noticed Bella go over to the couch to say goodnight to her friends. I was sad that she was going to sleep, and even more sad when she didn't say goodnight to me. This weekend was going to be a lot longer than I thought it would.

Don't you want to stay here a little while?

Don't you want to hold each other tight?

Don't you want to fall asleep with me tonight?

Don't you want to stay here a little while...

BPOV

The Saturday morning sunlight shined through the bedroom window forcing me awake. I closed my eyes tightly and rolled over. I wish it was Sunday already so that I could go home to Grace. At least I got to leave early Sunday morning so that I could go to church with Grace and my parents. I felt that my surroundings were confined, so I got up to take a shower. The bedside clock read 8:00, so I was sure that no one would be awake yet. I grabbed my fresh clothes and walked down the hallway opening the bathroom door quietly; not a sound in the house but me. That was, until I opened the bathroom door and saw Edward brushing his teeth in just his pajama bottoms, no shirt. Crap. He looked over to me and smiled even though his toothbrush was still in his mouth.

"Sorry!" I said frantically and closed the door in front of me. How embarrassing. I leaned up against the hall wall and waited for him to be finished. Not two minutes later, he stepped out cautiously. He looked so sweet, with sleep still in his eyes, and his bare chest practically gleaming at me. His chest hair was a bit darker than the hair on his head: a detail I never noticed before. I tried to smile at him, but I think it came off as more of a pissed off look, because he started to apologize.

"I'm really sorry. I should have locked the door," he whispered out. We were standing so close to each other that I could feel the heat coming from his body.

"No, it's fine. I should have knocked. I thought I was the only one up," I said shrugging.

"I've always been an early riser." Yeah, I know.
"Yeah, me too," I said instead. I started to walk into the bathroom before he said my name. It sounded strange coming from his mouth.

"Bella, do you want some coffee?" he asked sweetly, yet was still cautious. Was he afraid of me or something? I hope not.

"Uh, sure, but I can get it," I said shaking my head.

"Well, I was going to make some anyway," he said looking down to the floor.

"Oh, okay," I said. How awkward. We stood in silence for a moment before I decided to just close the door as he walked away somewhat quickly. What the hell? I shrugged it off and started for the shower, hoping it would refresh me.

EPOV

I don't think I can remember a time when my coffee had tasted so good. Rosalie bought the expensive shit, and I wasn't about to complain. I sat back out on the deck looking out into the early morning. It was still pretty dark outside even at 8:30, but I liked it. I could see the ocean, and hear the slow waves in the distance. I wish every morning could be like this. The fall leaves in perfect colors of orange, yellow, and red, with the pine trees full of life. I took in the smell of salt, fog, and pine. I heard the door open behind me, and knew immediately that it was Bella from her sent. I turned my head and almost spilled my coffee because of how beautiful she looked. She looked even prettier than she did thirty minutes ago in her early morning wake. She had braided her long hair, wore another pair of dark jeans, and a deep green sweater. She held a big mug of coffee in her hands, and looked startled to see me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were out here," she said softly. It was the second time she had apologized to me this morning, and I hated it. She had no reason to apologize.

"No, no, it's fine. I was just sitting out here breathing in the morning air." I said trying to reassure her.

"Would you like to be alone?" Absolutely not.

"Nope, you're more than welcome to come out," I said, hoping she would. She nodded her head and walked over to the cedar railing of the deck, and leaned her arms over it, taking a sip of her hot coffee. She was quiet, and looked deep in thought.

"Good coffee, huh?" I said trying to start a conversation.
"Mhmm. Rose always buys the best," she said smiling at the thought of her friend.

"How long do they usually sleep in?" I asked, nodding my head back towards the house. She let out a small laugh.

"Awhile. What about Mark and Angela?"

"Oh, Mark could sleep for days if he was able, and I think Angela could, too, now that she's pregnant."

"Yeah, I can imagine," she said slowly. "I'm really happy for them."

"Yeah, me too. They're going to be great parents," I replied confidently. She nodded her head again and we got quite. Her cell phone began to ring, making me jump and almost spill my coffee, again. She took it from her back pocket, and started to walk around the side of the deck.

"Hey, baby!" I heard her say excitedly. Baby? Damn. So much for that thought. I thought about it for a moment and decided to let it go. Everything happens for a reason, and if Bella was happy; well then I was happy for her. At least, I would try to be.

Hours later after everyone had slowly started to come alive, we were all out on the beach ready to start a Volley Ball game. It was cold out, but after moving and jumping around it became perfectly comfortable. Emmett and Bella were determined team captains, so naturally it became girls against boys. We planned on ruining them and did for the first half of the game, until the girls caught up to us. I of course was always placed in front of Bella staring at her across the net. She gave me the evil eye a few times, and I wasn't sure if it was because we were enemies in the sport or in real life. My stomach was sour throughout the entire game, especially when Bella would spike the ball straight for my face. Luckily I had either dodged, or hit it back over. Her glare was pretty terrifying when that happened. The game was tied when we decided to quit from shear exhaustion. I wasn't sure why she was being such a bitch, but it was driving me nuts. Anytime I would try and say something to her, just to comment on something being said by anyone, she acted like I had said nothing. I couldn't grasp it. After the game, she started to ask everyone what they wanted to drink, of course not even asking me. When she started her walk up to the house, I decided to go after to her and get some answers. She was up ahead of me, so when we were out of ear shot, I jogged up next to her breathing heavily.

"What's your problem?" I asked angrily.

"Excuse me?" she asked offended, but keeping her fast pace. She didn't look over to me, infuriating me even more.

"Why have you been treating me like shit?" She started to smile and then began to laugh loudly at me. "What's so funny?" I snapped. She continued laughing as we started up the front steps of the house. I ran in front of her and stood in front of the door, forcing her to stop.

"I've been treating you like shit?" she retorted, the smile still on her face.

"Um, yeah? You're acting like I'm not even here. Anytime I speak to you, you completely ignore me."

"Why does it matter, Edward? Now, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me pass, and continue on with ignoring you," she said in the bitchiest of ways, trying to move around me, but I matched her moves.

"Because I have a right to know!" I yelled. She jolted back scared by my sudden outburst. I put my hand on the back of my neck and rubbed it soothingly. "Ugh, I'm sorry for yelling, but I don't understand why you're treating me like this." I said much quieter.

"Maybe because you're a selfish prick, and I thought I would treat you, how you treated me for a change," she said loudly. I glanced back to the beach seen in-between tree branches and noticed that no one had even noticed my absence, or our loud argument taking place.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Oh, think back, it'll come to you." I started to think back to the past two days, coming up with nothing. She seemed to notice my frustration and blank expression. "Four years ago," she snapped. "Ring any bells now?" She was now furious with me, but I could also see hurt behind her anger. My shoulders eased as I remembered back to her graduation party.

"Look, I'm sorry to have left that way, alright? But I didn't have a choice," I said as she put up her hand and shook her head.

"I don't want an explanation," she said quietly.

"Too bad! I'm going to give you one anyway," I said back louder. How could she not want one? She rolled her eyes and stepped back putting her hand on her hip lazily. "I left because I had gotten a call for an internship that I needed for my career, and had to go!" I realized how lame and unimportant it sounded when the words left my mouth.

"Oh, so you leave a girl a fake number? What an asshole!" She said yelling. She ran her hands through her damp and tangled hair furiously.

"It wasn't fake!" I shouted. "My cell phone didn't work in another country, obviously! I even got a fucking Facebook to try and find you."

"That's ridiculous. You're so insensitive. I was a drunk eighteen year old girl who gave you my virginity, and woke up to some post-it-note? I didn't even know your last name! Hell, I still don't! I am so done with this conversation, Edward. Get out of my way." She tried to push me, but I held my ground. "What do you want from me?" she yelled.

"I want you to accept my apology! It was a lousy thing to do, and I regret it, okay? I thought about you a lot, and tried to find you! I can't go back and relive what happened, Bella. I wish I could, but I can't."

"Yeah, so do I. I would say that I wish it never happened, or that I never met you, but it made me who I am today and it gave..." she stopped abruptly and caught me off guard when I noticed tears start to fall down her face.

"Bella, please. I am so sorry for hurting you," I said quietly. I wanted desperately to reach out and touch her, but I was afraid. She put her head in her hands and continued to cry. DO SOMETHING, YOU IDIOT! I let my instincts take over, and before I knew what I was really doing, my body started to leap for her. I took her wet face from her hands and held it in mine. I looked into her deep brown eyes for an instant, before I crashed her lips to mine. The contact was like an electric shock that surged throughout my entire body. When she didn't pull away, I started to kiss her more feverishly. Need took over want and her mouth opened, allowing me access to slip in my tongue. When I did, I thought I may pass out from the thrill of what was happening. It felt like a scene in a movie, and everything was in slow motion. He put her hands in my hair and pulled on it tightly. I let go of her face and put my arms around her body, pulling her closer to me. I felt her breathing pick up as our tongues moved together quickly. We heard laughing down on the beach and she pulled away instantly. I felt dazed, and looked at her curiously. She wiped her hand across her mouth, and looked towards our friends, who looked like they were playing chase. Angela and Mark had their feet in the water and Emmett had Rosalie on his shoulders.

Where's Alice and Jasper?

"Hey, guys!" Alice said brightly. Bella spun around quickly and almost fell over.

"Hi," Bella stammered out. Alice gave Bella a curious look and cocked her head to the side.

"Did we interrupt something?" she asked slowly.

"No, no, nothing at all. Edward was just helping me get everyone's drinks," Bella replied quickly. I nodded my head at Alice, but was unsure as to why Bella seemed so secretive. Jasper appeared completely oblivious and walked past us into the house.

"Hey, Edward? Will come help me with the hot water heater? Rose said the pilot light went out," Jasper called from inside.

"Yeah, sure," I said in a distant voice before turning to follow him inside. I wish I could have seen Bella's face, but her back was turned away from me. I wasn't sure about what had just happened between us, but I would spend the entire rest of the weekend trying to figure it out.

BPOV

I had been in a haze that continued on all afternoon. It started to storm a few hours before dinner unfortunately, putting our plans to have a bonfire on the beach tonight inevitable. It was actually still coming down pretty hard while I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher with Rosalie. I was thankful to be doing something. I had kept myself busy since my ferocious kiss with Edward, not willing to slow down. I helped make dinner, I set the table, and I even did a load of laundry. Edward had been with the guys for most of the late afternoon watching some soccer game and drinking beer, which made me feel more at ease. I wasn't sure what the hell was going on, or what to think.

"Bella, are you going to tell me what happened?" Rose asked raising her eyebrows and wiping down the counter.

"Nothing happened! Will you two just drop it?" I said annoyed.

"It didn't look like nothing," Alice said from behind me with her arms crossed.

"God, we were just talking, alright? What's the big deal? I thought you guys wanted us to be friends?"

"You looked flushed, and angry, Bella. It didn't seem like some cordial conversation," Alice retorted.

"It was nothing! I'm absolutely fine."

"Whatever, Bella," Rose said. Thankfully she dropped the topic and started talking about Thanksgiving plans. I finished with the dishes and decided to go out and call my Grace. I hadn;t spoken to her since this morning, so I was getting antsy to hear her voice. The night air was cold, but it felt nice against my hot cheeks. I went out onto the back porch, and dialed my mother's cell number.

"Hello?" My dad answered on the second ring.

"Hey, daddy. What's up?"

"Oh, not too much, Bells. Gracie and I are watching The Little Mermaid relaxing. How's your weekend so far?"

"Not too bad, actually. I'm enjoying myself," I said honestly.

"Good to hear. I hope you guys don't get washed away with all this rain," he said teasingly.

"Ha, It's really coming down hard."

"You guys keep safe, you hear?" my father warned.

"Yes, dad," I said laughing.

"Okay, Bells. Here's Gracie." I smiled knowing that I was about to hear her voice.

"Mommy?" Gracie said excitedly.

"Yeah, baby, it's me. How are you?"

"I'm great! I've had the best time ever with grandma and grandpa! We went played at the park and had a picnic, and when it started to rain, grandpa took me to this awesome museum!" she spoke so quickly running all her words together making me laugh.

"That's so neat, sweetheart. Did you learn anything new?"

"Mhm! Did you know that the Grand Canyon was made by the Colorado River over 17 million years ago?" she questioned seriously.

"No, I didn't know that!" I lied.

"Yeah, and it's up to 277 miles long, and in certain parts, up to 18 miles wide!"

"Wow!" I said excitedly. I didn't know that fact.

"Grandpa said he would take me there one day. Would you like to come, too, mommy?"

"Yes, baby. Of course, I would love too." I smiled widely and shivered at the cold wet air.

"Great!" she squealed. I looked down to my watch noticing that it was almost eight.

"Well, Gracie, I'd say it's almost time for bed, but I bet grandpa is letting you stay up later, huh?" I asked teasingly.

"Yeah!"

"Okay, well mommy is gonna go back inside with Alice and Rosalie, and you can get back to watching your movie, alright?" I hated having to say goodbye.

"Okay. I miss you," she said sweetly, while breaking my heart.

"I miss you, too my love. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Alright bye! I love you, Mama!"

"I love you more, Gracie. Bye," I said softly, and hung up the phone. It was crazy to think how someone so small could affect someone so deeply. I couldn't wait to get home, and was dreading having to deal with this Edward thing. I enjoyed the kiss, and I didn't like that. It felt so right, yet so wrong. I sighed and shivered again, forcing me to go inside. I made my way in and walked quickly over to the fire, noticing that everyone was around the television watching intently. I looked over to the screen and saw a News Man broadcasting outside in the pouring rain.

"What's going on?" I asked curiously.

"The road is flooding," Jasper said absently.

"What? What road?"

"The main highway a few miles from here. They're even saying that a bunch of local roads in this area are being washed out."

"Shit, seriously?" I said worriedly.

"Hey guys, let's drive down to the end of the driveway and hit the main road, to see what's going on," Emmett said, referring to the men in the house only. All four guys started to get up and get their coats from the closet.

"Wait a second, are you insane?" Rosalie snapped. "What if you get stuck, or washed away?"

"Babe, chill. We won't go near anything dangerous, and we'll stop driving as soon as we hit water that starts up the tires," he said calmly. "Edwardo, can we take your truck?" Edward looked over to me quickly, and I found myself wishing that he would stay. Wishing that all of them would.

"Yeah, sure thing," he said pulling his coat on. The respective couples gave one another a kiss, having Edward and I stand off to the side awkwardly.

"Um, be careful," I said quietly to him.

"We will," he whispered back smiling beautifully. It made me smile, and my stomach start to flip-flop. The boys headed out the door, running down to Edward's large navy blue Heavy Duty four door Ford, and started to drive away slowly.

"They're such boys," Angela said laughing.

"Yeah, like they're going to play in some big puddle or something," Rose joked. We all started to laugh at them and I went to grab us a bottle of wine, and some glasses. I poured each glass half full, and handed them out to my friends, before I walked back over to the fire. I didn't want to get stuck here for God knows how long. I needed to see Grace, and be at church tomorrow morning: not to mention work on Monday! I sat in front of the fire and decided to let it go. At least I knew Gracie was safe with my parents, and if I had to, I'd buy a fucking row boat and paddle my way home. I laughed at my own idiocy as I took a sip of my white wine. My mind pulled itself back to Edward and our kiss. His tongue so warm against mine. Something had come over me and I let go, giving into the passion that seemed to still be between us after all this time. How could I ignore that? How could I keep it from my best friends? I think I just wanted to relish in it alone for a while. A wide smile spread across my face. I hadn't had more than one day away from my hectic life of work and motherhood, and I remember my mom always saying that it was perfectly normal and healthy to take a break from it. When I was a kid, once a month I would spend the weekend with my grandmother while my parents took a trip to the beach or went camping. I guess I was making up the past four years of that right now, so I felt myself ease into the flow. If we got flooded in, so be it. I would make the best of it.

Speak to me with closed lips

Use your touch instead of your words

Fill me up in your embrace

Let go and relish in space

It's coming along, isn't it? I hope I am able to keep you on your toes!

Song inspiration;

Don't you wanna stay-Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson

The poem at the end was written by me, specifically for this story.

Leave me your thoughts, and I'll reply ASAP!

-S