A/N: Thank you for the phenomonal reviews. The one thing that came up a lot that I can assure you won't happen is pregnancy, it's a cop-out in most stories and I'd like to keep it, er, I guess simple but this still might be a bit complicated. If that makes any sense at all.

"I was thinking ravioli for dinner," I said as we walked into his one bedroom, one bath, small kitchen/living room combo apartment—home.

"Sounds delicious, I'm up for anything." He said while hanging up his jacket on a hook by the door. He was whistling something while he walked into the bedroom, presumably to change and I started to move around the kitchen, getting the ravioli and the sauce ingredients ready.

"How was work?" I asked when he came back into the kitchen for a soda.

"Pretty boring, I guess. Some girl kept hitting on me when I was working behind the bar, but she left a huge tip when she left."

"And her number?"

"Yeah, that, too," he sighed. "Anyway, I spoke to my boss and he said there's a waitressing position from two thirty to seven available."

"You have school at five, though." I looked up at him from the boiling pot.

"Yeah, which is why I took The Beast into the shop today."

"Edward!"

"It won't cost that much, Bella, relax. I talked to the mechanic and he said the break table just needs to be replaced. One fifty, two hundred at the most."

"That's still a lot. I could walk, you know."

"Not at night, and not in that area especially," he argued.

"I can't believe you did that," I said incredulously. "We're behind on rent as it is this month without auto body maintenance, too!"

"The maintenance is paid for, and so is the rent." He smiled at me and that smile turned into a grin.

"How?" I asked hesitantly.

"That tip," he said and laughed. "Three hundred dollars for serving her two cocktails and winking before she left."

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know it's probably wrong to lead her on like that, and then take her money, but three hundred dollars is—well, it's a lot."

"Yeah," I sighed. "So when can I start?"

"The car should be out by the weekend, and I'll take you for your interview on Friday since I don't have classes."

I smiled. "We'll be working together."

He grinned back. "I know."

--

About two hours later we were on the loveseat, cuddled up and working on homework before Edward had to leave for classes. I was finishing up on my math assignment and he was flipping through an anatomy textbook.

My head leaned against his shoulder and I sighed aloud. His arm tightened around my waist and he planted a kiss on the top of my head. His warm palm rested on the flesh of my waist and I closed my notes to lean into him.

"What do you plan on doing tonight while I'm gone?" he asked into my scalp.

"Shower, read, and then go to bed."

"Sounds nice," he said almost wistfully.

"You deserve a day off," I said, because it was true.

"You know I can't stop working, Bella… you know I can't."

"I know… maybe when I start working again things will get easier." I think we both pondered that for a moment, wondering about what the future held for us. It was almost painful to think that things would continue the way they were, that we would continue to be separated because of school and work at opposite hours of the day. We hardly had any time to just hold and be with eachother anymore.

Edward didn't say anything, but his grip around my waist tightened; telling me that he sure hoped so, but it most likely would not get easier, just less tense.

His watch beeped and we both sighed. Getting up from our comfortable spot, we walked to the front door. I paused for a moment to run into the kitchen and pulled out the apple slices I had cut along with the little packets of peanut butter and a can of soda.

He grinned when he saw them in my hands and ducked his head to kiss me deeply, slipping just a bit of tongue in before pulling away and kissing my cheek.

"Love you, Bella," he said, and the grin turned into a soft smile that matched his bright green eyes.

My cheeks heated up and I leaned forward to kiss him again. "I love you, too, Edward."

He grabbed his coat, winked at me and walked out into the hallway. I sighed and leaned my back against the wall, feeling his lingering presence where he had just stood and the heat from his lips. I closed my eyes and imagined that he was still there with me for a moment, still telling me he loved me with his eyes looking the way they did, the most beautiful thing in the world.

I walked into the living room and picked up the dishes from before, busying myself with scraping marinara from the plates instead of acknowledging that he wasn't here. I may have been a bit clingy, I guess, but he was all I had in this entire world. I would never take that for granted.

When the dishes were put away I glanced at the message numbers on the answering machine. The number was a bright red zero and I looked away from the taunting light. I had too much hope and faith in people sometimes.

I did almost exactly as I told Edward I would do; I took a shower, but avoided reading all the stupid comments in my Romeo and Juliet book. Then I went to bed feeling entirely too frustrated.

I gave in then, and read them. And I took them to heart.

I fell asleep with tears in my eyes, but didn't cry. I had been through so much worse than a couple of teenagers calling me petty names.

Somewhere around nine I ended up falling asleep and it seemed like like only a few minutes had passed when the bed started to shake.

"It's just me," Edward whispered.

"Mmm…" I mumbled. "How were your classes?"

"Alright," his chest pressed against my back and his arms wrapped around my waist. Warmth touched the back of my head and I smiled. "Who wrote in your book?"

My eyes opened wide and flashed to the book… I had left it on the coffee table. "Oh… I don't know who did it. I just found it."

"You know I don't believe that, Bella," he murmured. "That's an act of vandalism. First it was verbal, next it'll be physical violence."

My hand twitched where the fat purple bruise was beginning to climb up my forearm. "That's not it…"

"What happened, Bella? I promise I won't judge." His hand ran through my hair and my throat constricted. My nose started to tingle and my eyes burned with salt.

"It's really… nothing, Edward." The tremor in my voice was noticeable and his arms tightened protectively around me.

"Don't cry, Bella. Please don't cry," he cooed. "It doesn't matter what any of them say. They don't know anything about us and they never will. The only thing that matters is that I love you more than anything in the world, and even if those lowlifes harass you I'll still always love you more than any of them will ever be loved."

It was quiet for a while after he spoke in that soft caring voice. His hands caressed my skin and kissed everywhere he could with fervent intensity. I just let him comfort me for the moment because he was just… the only one who knew how.

"Thank you," I whispered. I grabbed his hand and kissed his palm from where he was stroking along my collarbone.

"I love you, Bella. More than anything in the world," he murmured.

I smiled a little and snuggled into his warmth. "Ditto."

He chuckled as we both dozed off into precious sleep.

A/N: I forgot to mention one of the most important things. This will be a short story, 13 chapters exactly. But I loved writing every bit of it, so I hope you enjoy reading just as much.

Don't forget to review!