I had no idea how I got home that night. It hadn't been that late when I had dropped off Bella; her father hadn't been home yet. I knew I had sat some more minutes in my car in front of Bella's house – the house Bella was in right at that moment, which made it the most interesting place in the world – but when I saw the lights of another car approaching, I finally managed to start my own car and drive away.

Only parts of my family were home when I arrived home. The others were still away to dispose of the scumbags who had attacked Bella. Emmett, Alice and Jasper were driving them to another state where they would leave them in the vicinity of some police station after leaving the information where they might be found and why it would be a good thing to pick them up.

Rosalie greeted me when I opened the door. She gave me one single look and a smile appeared on her lips as she saw my expression. I tried to glower at her, but my heart wasn't in it. I was simply still too friggin' happy to be angry at her.

"I don't think I need to ask how your dinner went."

"Dinner went fine, thank you," I responded curtly. The last thing I wanted right now was an interrogation on how my evening with Bella had gone.

She got my hint, luckily, and let me pass as I went for the stairs and my room. I needed a shower and a change of cloth. I also wanted to give Bella a call, to ask her if it would be all right with her if I picked her up for school tomorrow – and, of course because I wanted to hear her voice.

I was also tired, but at the same time so wired, I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep. My thoughts circled around Bella and the kiss she had given me.

Bella had kissed me!

Just the thought of that brief contact, of her lips on mine, made me grin again. From all that grinning I was doing lately I was going to get muscle spasms in my face. Not that I cared.

The emotional high that Bella's kiss had given me lasted exactly until I started to peel off the bandages enveloping my torso so I could take the shower. Instantly I felt a stabbing pain emanating from my cracked ribs. I had to lean against the sink for a moment, taking in carefully measured, shallow breaths as I tried to get control over the pain. I tried not to make a sound, for this would certainly bring one of my family come looking for me. I remembered Carlisle had offered me some pain meds earlier, and maybe it was a good idea to accept them before I went to bed.

Once the pain had receded to a more tolerable level, I stepped gingerly into the shower stall and put the water on as hot as I could stand it. I closed my eyes, letting the water cascade over my face and my body, allowing it to relax me and to wash away the grime and dirt that had found its way onto me in that fight in Port Angeles. Lathering up I winced once or twice as an unlucky movement aggravated my ribs once again. Soaping up my hair proved to be painful as well and lifting my arms above shoulder level was a lesson in hurt. I managed somehow, but it left me breathless and aching. I had no idea how I would be able to get the excessive water out of me hair once I got out of the shower.

I tried to delay my leaving of the shower as long as I could, but eventually I had to get out or else I would turn into a prune. Or I would dissolve and be drained away with the used up water. Finally I opened the stall door, only to see a pale arm offering me a towel.

I should have known my family would eventually check up on me.

With a sigh – carefully, shallow – I accepted the large bath towel and wrapped it around my hips before stepping out. To my relief it wasn't my mother who was with me in the bathroom but Carlisle. I loved my mom, really, I do, but I didn't know if I would have been able to accept her mother-henning right now. Carlisle was by far the better option. He was treating patients every day and with him I could pretend that he was just my doctor, even if he was so much more than that.

Even though Rosalie and Emmett were my parents, and for that reason alone were the center of my family and I loved them, Carlisle was the soul of our family unit. As much as I looked up to my parents, they did look up to him, adored him, revered him. He had created them both, saving their lives in the process. And he had shown them that even with the monstrous side that came with being a vampire, there was no reason to give in to it and become the monster they feared.

"If you don't mind, Edward, I would like to take another look at you," he asked gently.

I did mind – a little, I hated being fussed over – but on the other hand I was in pain and I knew that I couldn't hide that from him. Actually, it would be stupid of me to do so. So I simply nodded and he directed me to sit down on the bed.

He was fast but thorough. When he touched my side I couldn't hide a wince and he was even more careful after that. The bruise that I had only seen once before in the dim light of the street where the attack had taken place, looked to be no bigger than my hand. It had a reddish blue color and just looking at that thing seemed to make it hurt. Carlisle allowed his hands to ghost over it, his face not betraying any feelings, though he pressed his lips together once when he, despite his gentleness, managed to induce another harsh inhalation from me.

He also examined my left leg meticulously, but other than a large bruise on my upper thigh where the foot of my attacker had connected, there were no issues there, and that bruise hurt less than a percent of the one on my side.

"Like I suspected, your seventh and eighth rib are cracked, but not broken. I will give you some ointment that should help a little, but I'm afraid you'll feel them for a while."

I nodded grimly. I just had healed from my broken collar bone and I knew it could take a long while. Unlike my previous injury, however, my ribs couldn't be immobilized completely and because of that I would feel them every time I breathed in too deeply.

Carlisle applied the salve, trying to hurt me as little as possible, and the blessed numbness I felt after was worth every wince.

I yawned suddenly, my energy draining out of me as if somebody had pulled out the stopper in a bath tub. Suddenly, all I wanted to do was to sleep, and as I was already sitting on my bed I just leaned over and let myself fall.

I heard Carlisle chuckle as if he was far away, and my last thought was that I had forgotten to do something important, but for the life of me I couldn't remember what it was.

*

The next morning I woke up to bright light that was coming in through my window. It was still overcast, but it wasn't raining and by Forks' standard it was a lovely day. I sat up, only remembering belatedly that moving too fast wasn't a good idea. Surprisingly enough, it hurt only a little and when I looked down at me, I saw that my ribs had been taped up once again and that I somehow had ended up in my sweats and the t-shirt I usually slept in.

I glanced over to my alarm clock and saw that it was time for me to get up if I wanted to be in time to pick up Bella for school. And then I remembered that I had forgotten to call her, and my good mood from moments before evaporated.

While I was trying to get my comb to pass through my thick, unruly hair – a difficult endeavor on the best of days, but today almost a futility – I argued with myself if I should just pick her up anyway, or wait for school before seeing her. As I really didn't want to waste any time being away from her I was all in favor of the first option. But what if she didn't want me to do that for her? What if she already thought that little kiss from yesterday had been a mistake? It hadn't even been a real kiss, if I thought about it. Maybe she had aimed for my cheek and it had ended up on my lips by accident. What if I was wrong and what she felt for me was nothing like what I felt for her?

I almost groaned as those thoughts chased around in my head like gerbils in a wheel. Maybe I should stay home today. I was sure Carlisle would write me a slip, attesting that I had fallen or something and that I needed to recover. It wasn't too far from the truth after all, even though at the moment the pain wasn't really the problem.

But the thought of not seeing Bella for a whole day was enough incentive to get me moving. That thought was inconceivable to me. Even if she wouldn't want to continue where we started yesterday, just knowing I was in the same building as she was would be enough for me, even if she should not want to see me.

I hadn't noticed the rest of my family coming back last night, but when I came down the stairs, I saw Alice waiting for me. She held out the keys to my Volvo to me.

"If you want to pick up Bella, you better hurry," she told me with a knowing grin. "There will be an accident on the 101 in fifteen minutes and if you get stuck in there, you will be late."

"Will she …" I started, but she held up her hand.

"All will be fine. Don't worry about us, we'll take Rose's car."

She threw the keys at me and I caught it one-handed. I hesitated for one more moment, then gave her a quick peck on the cheek and rushed out to my car.

I was early in town, more than half an hour before school was about to start. Bella's truck was still waiting in the driveway, but there was no sign of her father's police cruiser. I was still debating with myself if I should get out and ring her door bell, then the door to her house opened and she stepped out.

At the sight of her I instantly felt better and I felt a smile tucking at the corner of my mouth. I got out of my car and walked up to her truck, waiting for her to come down the stairs. She wore jeans today and a tan pullover that was a little bit too large on her and effectively hid her slender curves from my sight. I immediately developed a dislike to that piece of clothing, but then I remembered that Bella's jacket was still with Jessica as she had left it in her car last night. It wasn't very warm this morning, so maybe that pullover had been the best option.

"Good morning, Bella," I greeted her.

"Edward." She looked up from the ground, obviously only noticing that moment I was here. A wide grin spread over her face and instantly all my concerns that she might not want to see me again evaporated. She was beautiful and for a moment I almost forgot to breathe.

I swallowed, suddenly anxious again. "I was wondering," I started, twisting my hands nervously, "if you would want to ride with me to school today."

A light blush colored her cheeks, but then she nodded. "I think I would like that," she all but whispered.

The drive to school was quiet. For once I had no idea what to ask her. Yesterday I had had about a million questions and I had only scratched the surface of the miracle that was getting to know Bella. Today I couldn't remember a single one of them. Just having her in the car with me was enough though, hearing her breathe softly next to me, inhaling her scent. She was silent as well, her eyes distant, her thoughts a million miles away.

It wasn't very far from her place to school and we arrived with still more than fifteen minutes to spare before class started. The parking lot was mostly empty still. I parked the car, reluctant to get out.

"Is your family coming today?" she suddenly asked.

I nodded. "They're going to take Rosalie's car," I told her.

"Good."

I wondered if she was nervous to meet my family again. She had interacted with them before, many times, really, and never had been nervous. But that had been before she had known they were vampires. Suddenly knowing something like this certainly would change somebody's perspective.

I decided that maybe the best was to ask her directly.

"Are you concerned about my family? Now that you know, I mean."

I could sense that she was about to shake her head, but then she changed her mind. She placed her hands into her lap and looked at them, avoiding my eyes in the process. "It's not that I'm afraid of them now or anything like that. It's … I don't know, really. They are so perfect, I mean, and I'm not, and with them what they are and me what I'm not, I'm not sure why you even could be interested in me." The last couple of words were rushed out almost too fast for me to understand them.

I almost laughed out loud, but knew that this would be very much the wrong reaction now. Did I get this right? She was afraid I wouldn't be interested in her because my freaking perfect family of vampires? Hadn't I just this morning been thinking she wouldn't be interested in me? Was she blind?

"Oh, Bella," I said, reaching for her across the middle console of the car, taking her hands into mine. "You have no idea. They aren't perfect, not at all. They all have their little flaws, their faults. You … you are so much more to me. I want to spend as much time with you as possible. Just leaving you yesterday … it was hard, really hard. I … I want you."

Doubt had still been in her eyes, but when I told her I wanted her, she finally smiled. I replied in kind.

And then I leaned over and placed my lips on hers. For one short, agonizing moment I thought I had made a mistake, that I had gone too far. But then I felt her response, felt her increase the pressure of her lips against mine. Her mouth opened a fraction and her sweet breath filled my mouth, my soul. Her taste was so much better than I remembered from last night. I knew if I died now, I would die a very happy man indeed.

Eventually we had to pull apart. We both breathed heavily. I searched her eyes, wanting to know what she was thinking, wanting to know if she also felt the same emotions, the same turmoil that stirred my very being. I shouldn't have worried, though, for her smile was all the answer I needed.

"Edward?" she whispered my name.

"Hmm?"

She grinned mischievely at my non-reply.

"I think we need to go to class."

I blinked once, twice, fighting my way back to the reality that we were in the school parking lot and that school was about to start soon.

"Do we?" I asked almost with the whine. Why did I have to go to school now? There were a millions things I'd rather do right now, and everyone of those million things had something to do with Bella.

"Hmhm," she nodded. With a sigh she turned away from me to open her door.

"Wait," I said quickly, holding up my hand. As fast as I could I got out on my side and ran over to hers to open the door for her. I took her school bag from where she had thrown it on the backseat together with mine, then I sketched a little bow and offered her a hand.

"Mylady, may I accompany you to your class?"

She grinned again and nodded. "You may, good sir." She placed her hand into mine and together we walked up to the school building.