Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.

Chapter 16

I ran to the door and Edward stood there, looking defeated. The rain didn't do much to help.

"Did he say no?" I asked. He put his coat on the hanger and turned around with a big smile.

"We're goin' to Mexico!" he yelled happily, pulling me into a bear hug. I smiled and hugged him back.

"You scared me a little bit," I said. Then Charlie walked through the door.

"Try to keep the door closed, especially when it rains. I don't need bugs in here," he said, shutting the door. I grabbed him by the coat and pulled him into the kitchen.

"You know about the vampire pregnancies, right?"

"Like what Alice is going through? Of course! Why do you ask?"

"Because I need you to go over in detail all of her options with her so she can make a decision with everything in order and stuff. She's seriously considering adoption, but I'm not sure how that will work out. Anyway, you're the doctor; feel free to whenever you want."

"Alright, I'll go do that now. Thank you for informing me," he said. I went back out to Edward and we went up to my room.

"I've never actually gotten a good look at this place," he said, picking up one of my old diaries and flipping through its pages.

"Well, yeah, that's because you've been in a different room. See, no bed," I said.

"Then what is this?"

"My room," I said. He nodded thoughtfully and looked around. He approached the back door to my room.

"Don't go out there, there isn't a porch and we're about 24 feet up." I said. He stepped away and laughed.

"Is it like that for a reason or did you just get this house unfinished?"

"It's a little bit of both. It wasn't totally finished, they were working on the porch before we moved in and I guess they ran out of money. We took off what they had and left the door, it's an easy escape."

"Makes sense, I guess." he said. I walked over to him and put my arms around his waist.

"You like it here?"

"The rain is getting a little old, but you guys have managed to fix it," he smiled.

"I wish I could say that it would let up soon, but I'm not gonna lie to you." I sighed and laid my head on his chest. He kissed the top of my head and held me.

"Edward?" I said after a few moments.

"Hmm?"

"I love you so much."

"I love you, too," he said, tilting my head up and kissing me.

"Promise me that you don't hang your life up for me, Edward. I love you to death and I want to be able to see you go far and see you happy and successful and have everything you've dreamed of and wanted."

"Bella, not to be cliché, but you make me happy and you're what I've dreamed of. I won't hang everything up for you, though, if that's what you want. I'm still taking a year off before college, though, and you can't convince me otherwise. I just want a little time that's just you and me, and if August comes and I decide that I really want to go I'll go."

"Alright, whatever you see fit or necessary, I guess."

"Just trust me, Bella, it won't be the end of the world. I know dozens upon dozens of people who do it, they're all perfectly fine and happy. Don't you want me to be happy."

"Oh don't even start that with me, Edward. You know I want you to be happy, but I also want the best for you. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned and stuck back a century ago, I don't know. Anyway, I'm going to go with you on this, if it turn out bad, though, it isn't my fault."

"Thank you," Edward said, ending that portion of the discussion, "Anyway, so we're leaving in July?"

"Yeah, I think we're gone for two or three weeks in the beginning of July."

"So not too far away from now."

"Not far at all, The trip on the other hand is to a relatively secluded private area for obvious reasons."

"Because of the sun and all that fun stuff?"

"Yeah, exactly."

June came and went and we celebrated Edward's birthday with the best party we could manage to throw. He loved it.

Before we knew it we were all packing for Cancun and heading for the airport. It took cramming all the luggage in two cars and finding a way to fit four in each. The challenge was leaving enough room for Alice, who, between the motion sickness, claustrophobia, and constant complaining wasn't any kind of joy in the car for Jasper, Edward, or I.

Checking the bags at the airport was obscene because pretty much everyone had one since it was a three week trip. Rosalie, being the ridiculous fashionista, had an almost overflowing checked bag, her carry-on was packed as full as she could get it, and then she had her oversized backpack that inside it had her purse along with all her make-up and other things she saw necessary for this trip.

Security was the one thing before we got to the gate that actually went relatively smoothly. Edward and Alice were apparently relatively experienced travelers because they were all set when it came to the security line.

We had about an hour of sitting at the gate, which was so mind numbing I actually wished I was in school. I'd forgotten this was one of the worst parts of traveling, second only to going through customs. I sighed, trying to avoid the thought of the hell-hole that was customs. That was going to be where it all broke. Somehow we were going to get separated and someone was going to be left at the airport.

Thankfully I wasn't going to have to deal with pregnant Alice for the flight; she was all Jasper's then. Charlie had been kind enough to get us all seats together but apart, of course he splurged for first class for him and Renee. It didn't affect me any, I didn't need anything that they gave there, it was all human amenities up there, but it got to me a little that he didn't offer to let any of us pay for first class for ourselves, and that poor Alice wasn't getting a thing. Thankfully he'd been nice enough to at least give her a seat on the wing so turbulence wasn't that bad. Rose and Emmett sat in the seats directly behind first class. Edward and I were awkwardly stuck in the middle.

The flight was five hours of extreme boredom, much to everyone's dismay. We made it there and got through customs surprisingly well. The drive to our villa was magnificently smooth, all facts considered.

The first thing on everyone's mind was room claiming and unpacking, or, for Alice and Edward, room claiming and sleeping. Without question Charlie and Renee got the master, I managed to get the second best bedroom in the house, somehow, for Edward and me. At that point I didn't care what others did.

Edward lay down on the bed and I gave him a kiss before unpacking. I unpacked all my things and decided to give Edward his privacy and let him do his own stuff. I put on a bikini and headed out to the pool deck, where it seemed everyone but Jasper had retreated to.

"Edward sleeping?" Rose asked.

"Yep, like a rock. It's been a hell of a day for all of them. Jasper stuck with Alice."

"Yeah, poor thing. Well, actually they're both poor things. It would have been so much easier if Alice had just decided to get rid of the thing and gone on with life."

"Who knows what she'll do," I said, sitting on the chez lounge next to Rose, "she's still got some time that Charlie can fix things. Not much, but enough that she can gain some sense, maybe."

"Well, let's hope she does. How was the car ride with her?"

"Miserable, I felt bad for her, poor girl is so uncomfortable. Honestly I don't think she was really built to bear children, let alone whatever alien-thing she has now. If she keeps it the thing is gonna kill her, no way around it."

"Yeah, I don't know what she's thinking, but whatever. It is her body, after all. If she wants to risk her life it's her choice."

"More like take her own life," I corrected and moved to the concrete pool deck, dipping my feet in the water. Sunset fell upon us and those of us with human partners went our separate ways, leaving Rose and Emmett to do as they pleased, and I wanted to know none of what they did so I turned off my mind. I tiptoed into the bedroom and saw Edward had moved under the covers.

I smiled and sat on the bed next to him, wishing I could actually sleep. I wanted to be able to say that we slept together. Not slept together as in having sex, because I could say that all I wanted. I wanted to be able to say that we'd slept together in its most innocent definition.

I looked over and smiled at the boy who was fast asleep right beside me, the boy who had managed to claim my heart fully. Edward, the boy who I was going to spend the rest of my life with, one way or another, if his feelings didn't change. I didn't know, until I met him, that it was possible to feel so in love with one boy. So passionately, madly, deeply, undoubtedly drawn to a single being so much so that without them there it was as if something was missing and you weren't whole unless they were there with you.

He rolled over and pulled me out of my trance, I realized I'd been lightly running my fingers through his hair. I pulled my hand away quickly, hoping I hadn't woken him. His eyes opened, much to my dismay, and he smiled back at me sleepily.

"What's up?" he asked, his voice still thick with the sleep he'd just awoken from.

"Nothing, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, Edward. Please, go back to sleep."

"No, I've been sleeping for hours, I'd much rather me up with you," he said, sitting up and capturing my lips in a kiss. He pulled away and smiled and pulled me close. When he let go I got up and started looking through the drawers I'd left empty for him. I found a pair of swim trunks and tossed them at him.

"Meet me outside," I said and left the room. I walked down a level and to the pool and waited for Edward. He came out and I smiled. The moon was like a spotlight on him, everything else faded. Or maybe that was just me seeing things. They said, at least when you're human, that you know they're the one because when you see them everything else kind of fades away and there isn't a thing in the world except for you and that person.

"Hey," he smiled and came towards me, pulling my body against his, "what do you want out here?"

"Come with me," I smiled. I grabbed him hand in mine and led him out of the gate, closing it and navigating the rocky path onto the beach. I let go of his hand and went into the ocean, smiling as the calm waves flowed over my legs, then hips, then waist, then chest as I went deeper. I stopped when my feet couldn't touch the bottom anymore. Edward met me out and kissed me.

"So you wanted me to come into the ocean? That's it?" he asked.

"For now. Don't push it, Mr. Masen." I smiled, "And either way, how many times have you been in the ocean, let alone with a vampire?"

"I've been to the ocean every summer since I can remember, it isn't anything new to me, but you do have a good point on the vampire thing. And you can also add my girlfriend and her family, never been to the beach with either of them. I've never lived in very beachy areas though," he laughed, "Land-locked and then I finally come to a place with a beach and it rains constantly."

"Well, I'm glad I get to fill the place of first in that area," I smiled. He pulled me close and I laid my head against his chest. He held me for a moment then all of a sudden pushed me underwater. I gasped and popped up out to the air, suddenly cold, and shook the hair out of my face, coughing up salt water. Edward was laughing hysterically.

"Asshole! God dammit! You ruined my hair!" I yelled, only making Edward laugh harder.

"Quiet! Don't wanna get in trouble!" he managed to gasp in between hysteric laughs.

"No, you know what, find your own way back in," I huffed and began the swim back to the shore, anticipating him to not be a very strong swimmer I went at a slightly above average human pace and he caught up to me quickly and grabbed my arm. I pulled it away and picked up the pace. I made it to the shallow part and crawled out of the water. Edward was right behind me and grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into him. He kissed me and I melted into him. How could he have the power to do that to me?

He sank down to the sand and I laid on top of him. Before long both our swim suits were off and the night was exploding around us.

I haven't updated in FOREVER! Oh my God, I'm sorry guys! I was reading over this a couple weeks ago and I thought 'Hey! I should pick this back up!' and it's taken me FOREVER to write this damned chapter. I wanted it to be good, so I worked on this constantly, pretty much. Tumblr and Youtube distracted me a little too much, but I finally finished it! I don't know when the next update will be, I've been pretty busy. I'm pretty much just trying to make it to the end of the year, so the latest you'll get a chapter will probably be about the end of May, but I'll try to post before then. I guarantee nothing, though. Love you all! Please REVIEW this!

~Erin