Authors Note:

Hey guys! Super nervous about this chapter. I hope I've done justice and made you guys happy with the reunion of Edward and Bella.

Chapter Seventeen

"You okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine, totally fine. Why? Don't I look fine? I feel fine." I say without breathing once.

Totally not fine.

"You seem... Fine."

Liar. I seem crazy and you know it. Aswell as everyone else around us.

I nod at him instead of speaking because frankly, I don't trust my mouth one bit.

"So, do you like football?"

Why would you force me to talk?!

"Mhmm, it's... fun."

He stares at me as if waiting for me to elaborate on fun but I stay quiet, wanting to keep the chat to a minimum. Even though we're on a date and it's kind of mandatory for me to talk, I'd prefer it if we sat in silence.

"So who do you support?"

Mother of God, help me.

"Ah, you know, erm, all of em?"

His eyes open wide, his throat threatening to cough up the Dr Pepper he just took a sip of. "All of them?!"

"Yep, you know I like to think of myself as a fair person, so I give them all a chance." I laugh to try and cover up the awkwardness of my answer but a part of me doesn't believe I pull it off.

We stay quiet for a few more minutes, with me pretending to be riveted by the stadium filling up as the seconds go by, and him focusing on whatever goes down on the football pitch pre-match.

"You gotta give me something."

"I'm sorry?" I face him with a confused smile and watch as he gives me a nervous one back.

"I'm trying here, I get that a football match isn't exactly first date material, but you gotta admit, it's better than the cinema right?" His face lights up as I begin to laugh, and I can't help but feel bad towards him.

The truth is, it isn't his fault. It's mine.

The fact that Edward could walk out any second is putting me on edge. The thought is literally making me sick to my stomach. It's distracting as hell knowing he's so close, yet so far away from me.

Yet here's a perfectly fine gentleman who's made this date nothing but nice and I'm worried about another guy. Another guy who I haven't even seen in five years.

At least not in person.

I'd like to think that if I never got that phonecall off him the other day, I would be fine right now. But part of me knows that Edward would always be there at the back of my mind.

He was my what if, my big question, my big regret.

"You're right. I'm sorry, I guess I'm just nervous. It feels like I haven't been on date in forever."

His smile becomes wider which can only mean he bought my excuse. "Well maybe this will make you less nervous."

Before I have a chance to process what's happening, Dexters lips are on mine, slow and teasing. I let myself get lost in it mostly because he's such a good kisser, and because it is actually distracting.

But I can't help but compare him to Edward. The guy who kissed me like he knew everything I wanted and more. Dexters kiss is nice, but it's mediocre. It's bland, it does nothing for my insides.

No butterflies. No crazy nerves.

Once we pull apart I look away from Dexter and face the football pitch, wishing I'd never come when I see his face staring back at me.

Even though I expected him here, his appearance doesn't fail to shock me to the core. I try to pull away from his gaze but I physically can't seem to part from his eyes.

He breaks the hold he has on me when he walks straight off the pitch, ignoring his fellow teammates who are calling for him to get back.

I wonder and then hope that he didn't walk off the pitch because of Dexter and I. It was unfortunate timing, but it's not like I planned it, and it's not like I owed Edward anything.

Five years was a long time, he could technically have a family by now, it's not like I research him... Often.

I focus on Dexter as he gets into this whole explanation about how his family were big on sports, especially football, when his eyes wander to the side of me. I follow them to see Jasper making his way towards us.

I should have realised something was going on when people started screaming around me but I was oblivious to it, trying hard to focus on anything but the players and the pitch.

"Bella? I'm going to need to borrow you." He says while itching the back of his ear.

An obvious show of nervousness.

"What's going on?" I ask. Wondering why in the hell, he'd need me. We hadn't spoken in over five years, not since the night I'd left Edward.

"Erm I can't say here, too much people around. Just come down to the stands, it'll only take five minutes. Then you can get back to your, ah, your boyfriend. Please?"

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend." I say, gesturing to Dexter, who looks just as confused as me.

"Go on, I'll be fine." He says, motioning for me to go with Jasper.

I get up, not knowing what else to do. Plus, curiosity gets the better of me as I wonder what Jasper wants.

We walk silently towards the pitch and he takes me through the doors and towards what smells like the locker room.

"So, you going to tell me what's going on?"

"It's Edward. He's refusing to play tod-"

"Wait, what? Edward? Jasper I'm not going to talk to him. Why do you need me?" My heart is beating out of my chest as I realise what Jasper wants of me.

"Talk some sense into him. Look, no offence, but it's your fault he ran off the pitch. It was because he seen you, with Dexter. I don't know why you came here today, but it's not exactly ideal for either of you."

"This is not my fault ok! I can't choose where Dexter decides to take me on dates, I didn't want to see Edward today. I didn't ask him to run off! I wasn't the one calling him after five years of no communication at all."

"So I didn't get the wrong number?"

We both turn to see Edward leaning against the locker room door. He's staring right at me but it doesn't seem as if he can see me. It's almost like he's looking through me.

"I'll just leave you two to it then." I watch Jasper walk off and contemplate on running after him, or even running past him but I don't.

I stay, and I wait because this needs to be done. Things need to be said.

"Why aren't you out there playing?"

He shrugs his shoulders. "I wouldn't have been able to play knowing you were sitting there with Dexter Clayton." He says his name with such disgust it shocks me. Dexter has done nothing to Edward. As far as I know they hadn't even ever met.

"What I do with my personal life has nothing to do with you. There's thousands of people out there waiting for you, your team is counting on you. You can't just refuse to play."

"I'm the captain, I can do what I want." His words exude cockiness, arrogance and everything I hate.

"See, that's it. Right there! That's why I can't be around you. That is why I walked away all those years ago."

"Really? I always thought it was because you couldn't handle me, you couldn't handle your feelings. Couldn't handle anything in your life." Even after all this time, he knows the exact words to say to push my buttons.

"Fuck you, don't you dare put all of this on me! I was a kid, I had barely turned eighteen."

"Oh but you were woman enough to just walk away? That made you strong did it? Knowing you could just wrap me around your finger and then drop me whenever you wanted."

I can tell by his face he believes every word he's saying, and it hurts. I didn't ever think that was how he took what happened.

"It wasn't like that. I wasn't ready. You said it yourself, I was childish. You're Edward fucking Masen, I was just little old Bella. I wasn't enough for you."

"How do you know you weren't enough for me? How do you know, huh?"

"I was young but I wasn't dumb, I wasn't ignorant. Everyone knows what football players lifestyles are like. I couldn't live up to what you needed."

"God dammit. I needed you." He shouts at me.

"Don't be so stupid Edward, no you didn't!" I pull at my hair, trying to make him understand that I wasn't what he needed or wanted. It was the idea of me. The idea of a normal life. "You can't take the fact that I didn't fuck you within minutes of meeting you. It's all a game to you. I'm just the one that got away. The one you couldn't conquer."

"Don't try and tell me what I need, or how I feel."

"Well, what do you need Edward? Huh? Let's just get it out of our system, come on." I walk over to him in a frenzy, un-buttoning the front of my playsuit.

He perks up within seconds, his anger fading as lust takes over his face. I grab his hands and put them on my covered breasts.

He closes his eyes but opens them seconds after, pulling himself away from me. "Stop it."

"No, come on." I grab his hand back and pull him inside the locker room. His body hits the wall as I push him against it.

If this is what he wants, it's what he was going to get. Was I ready to lose my virginity? Especially in a dirty, smelly locker room? No, I wasn't.

But I refused to believe we were more than itches we both needed sratching.

"Isabella. Stop."

"Why? Isn't this what you wanted? We can get it out of the way and then go about our lives, right? Come on, fuck me Edward."

I undo the tie on his shorts and pull them down roughly. His hands are on my shoulders and even though he keeps telling me to stop, he does nothing to move me as I grab his cock in my hand.

He moans loud as I palm him. He tries to kiss me on the lips but I move my head from his.

No kissing. This needs to be fast, I say to myself, even though I want nothing more than to kiss him.

My back hits the wall as he switches places with me. He grabs my hands in his and pushes them high above my head. "I said, stop."

His close to me now, his words are practically being said right into my mouth. I push at his body, not wanting him close like this. Not when he can make something as small as his hands in mine so intimate.

"Fine. Get off me then."

"When I fuck you Isabella, I assure you, it won't be in the boys locker room, and it won't be in a situation like this." I shiver at his words, hating myself for reacting like this.

Why is it he affects me like this? Why am I constantly going back and forth with my thoughts? Why do I act like two different people? Why am I being so indecisive?

"You missed your chance. Whatever this is, it stops now."

I push at him but he doesn't move. "A few minutes ago you were ready to hop on my dick, but now you can't stand to be around me. What's changed?" He says, whispering to me.

I don't know. You. Me. Us. Everything.

His lips hover over mine, so close to kissing me. I shamelessly lift myself up to meet his mouth.

Our lips meet and all of a sudden I feel complete. I feel whole. I feel like the Bella I've been trying to lose the past five years. My nerves go crazy as our mouths open, our tongues pushing and pulling, teasing.

I bite down on his tongue and our kiss goes from sensual to sexy within seconds. His mouth devours mine, I feel like I'm the only source of air for him. I feel worshipped. His kiss makes me feel worthy.

I pull on his hair, needing more of him. Needing anything I can get my hands on. After five years of seperation, this kiss isn't enough for me. Kissing him for the rest of my life wouldn't be enough.

It's nothing like our first kisses, those were full of lust, they were practice runs. This kiss is everything I'd hoped for and more. It's passionate, hard, loving, hot.

It's perfect.

Authors Note:

Well well? How did you like the long awaited reunion between our favourite couple?

Let me know!

Also I'd love it if you could check out my new fanfic -

'Deal with the Devil.'

When her brother crosses the wrong family, it is up to Bella to fix things. Even if that means becoming everything she isn't, a protector, a fighter, a survivor. Forced to right his wrongs, Bella is thrown into a world unlike hers and finds herself negotiating with the Devil himself, who definitely looks like the angel he once was.

It has the whole push/pull, love/hate relationship between Edward and Bella. But I feel as if there's definitely elements of humour in it, aswell as it being kind of a thriller. I'm super excited for it, especially to see how you guys like it!

Thanks for reading guys, I love you all. X