A/N: Getting reviews like the ones I do really makes my day. Especially since I'm down on my luck in the computer department. :-/

Some people asked if Esme manipulated Bella. No, she didn't. She originally came down with the intention of asking Bella to move, but upon meeting with Bella she decided it was the best thing for the both of them. Reasoning with Bella.

When Edward got home in the late afternoon I was a ball of nerves. I had thought about how I'd go about telling him I was going to move out, I even called Charlie who was nearly screaming with excitement when I mentioned coming back.

I still couldn't consider it home, though.

I kept my eyes closed while Charlie went on and on about how I was coming back home and how he knew I would come back. By the end I had to grit my teeth together in order not to rescind my decision.

I had the taco meat and cheese in the oven and I was shredding lettuce when Edward came through the door with a loud sigh.

"My mom's in the air, safe and secure." He tugged his sweatshirt over his head and draped it over the coat rack.

"That's good,"

"Mmhmm," his arms wrapped around my waist and his lips touched the back of my head affectionately. "I'll go strip the sheets."

I nodded wordlessly and he walked away from the kitchen. When he was out of the room my shoulders caved forward. I couldn't do it. I honest to God couldn't do it.

Edward had been so completely wonderful to me every moment of every day and I was just leaving him. Even if he did want it deep down this would drive an even larger wedge between us. My hand cupped the side of my head and my palm pressed flat against my temple, applying relaxing pressure until I calmed down a little.

I opened the oven and yanked out the tray. I would tell him over dinner, he was most relaxed then. But I had all night; I was leaving tomorrow, no need to spoil a perfectly relaxing night together, the first in a long while.

No! It needs to get done, Bella. Stop stalling; it will only hurt him more in the end if you keep this up!

My nervous energy felt like it was emanating throughout the room, I knew it was all in my head, diluting my thoughts and forcing me into an almost panicked state. My heart was hammering away as if I'd just run a marathon or swam ten laps in an Olympic sized swimming pool.

"Hey," Edward's voice made me jump. "What's wrong?"

I swallowed hard. "Nothing."

His eyes narrowed, one hand coming up to grab my shoulder and spin me. "Don't, Bella. Did my mom say something to you?"

"No," I croaked.

"Please, Bella, please, don't shut down on me now." He pleaded with me. God, all he did was plead with me, maybe it would be for the best.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked.

"What? Yeah, of course, that's all I want." His expression gave everything away, though.

He was nervous and scared and I was nervous and scared. He sat down at the kitchen table and clasped his hands on the table top, his nails digging into his knuckles until the skin was taught and red.

Maybe I shouldn't do this. I could prolong it for another week.

It needs to happen; he's working himself like a dog. You're taking half his income as it is.

But it's worth it—he always says it—and we'll be together.

Until you're both so exhausted that it ends in a horrible mess no one benefits from anything.

"I'm moving out," I whispered.

His eyes were as wide as saucers and he didn't move except for his nails digging in until they slowly started to turn pink where they impaled his skin. Edward just… stared at me. Stared me in the eyes like I was joking, or this was some horrible dream and he'd wake up.

"Oh God," he whispered. "You're serious."

"I'm moving out, but I'm not moving away." I reassured him. "Esme did say something, but it made things clearer and brought things into perspective."

"What," he swallowed. "What did she say?"

I shook my head. "It's not important," liar! "I'm going back with my dad, but it's really going to be okay. You applied to all those hospitals and with me gone you won't have to keep working all these insane hours."

"Bella, I don't—God, I know it's probably… I can't—fuck!" he put his head in his hands and sighed frustratedly. "Okay… okay, I know it's for the best, I know it."

"Edward—"

"I've known it from the beginning, and I wished everyday that you would go back home with Charlie—"

"This is my home," I said like it was obvious.

He looked up from his hands and looked… so utterly hopeless. "No," he rasped. "It's not."

"It is, Edward, this is my home. I've thought of it as my home since I first moved in. This is my home because you are my home."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow, probably around six when Charlie gets off..."

"Can't you wait a little longer?" his eyes pleaded. "I, fuck, I know I'm probably acting real pathetic, but this is the stuff my nightmares are made of. It's for the best, I know, but I just, God I love you so much and I don't think I can bare seeing you walk out that door and know that you're not going to come back."

"I will come back; I'll always come back to you, Edward. This isn't the end, this is the beginning."

"It's the beginning of the end." He chuckled darkly and leaned his head into his palm. His eyes closed in what looked like pain.

"Hey," I murmured. "Look at me. I love you, Edward."

"Yeah, I love you, too." He whispered but didn't open his eyes. "I just… want to go to bed."

I stood up and walked over to him, taking the hand that was holding up his head and tugging until he stood up to follow me. I walked slowly into the bedroom, and then with tentative fingers I pulled off his clothing.

"I love you," I murmured.

"Uh-huh."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Uh-huh."

"Thing's will get better."

"Uh-huh."

"We'll have our honey moon on pink sandy beaches in Bermuda. And we'll go to a nudist beach."

His eyes popped open and looked at me incredulously. And then, beautifully, his lips pursed and twisted to the side before he broke out in a stupid grin.

"I love you, Bella."

I pushed him back onto the bed, naked and gloriously spread out before me. "Then show me."

He tugged me down on top of him, stuck a hand into my panties, and when I was good and speechless, he certainly did show me how much he loved me. And it was endless.

--

"You're room is exactly the way you left it." Charlie said happily. "I fixed up your computer, though. Actually, one of the kids in La Push fixed the mother board or some big green board and made it faster than before. It was Jacob; remember him, Billy's son?"

"Mmhmm."

"He's into mechanics and technology and all that stuff. Didn't your truck break down? You could give it to him to fix up."

"Edward took it to the mechanics."

"Oh."

And just like that, Charlie stopped talking.

I'd spent the day in my ideal spot, in Edward's bed, wrapped in his arms, underneath, on top, and beside him. Up until noon we did nothing but pant, hump, grind and scream until we were sure we could make it a couple days without physical contact—which Edward assured me would not be the case.

My stuff was packed up pretty easily. I grabbed my three bags of clothing, my books and backpack, and couple other little things and I was good to go. My CDs were mixed with Edward's, so I didn't see the problem in leaving them there, along with a couple of other things. In all honesty, it gave me some other form of going back, and making sure that my presence was always in that apartment—with Edward.

"Are you hungry?" Charlie asked pulling into town.

"I ate before I left." I answered dully.

Charlie hesitated for a moment. "Are you, uh, sure you're ready to move back in? I guess I never really asked what spurred on your decision, you didn't get in a fight with Edward or anything, did you?"

I sighed quietly. "No, we didn't fight. I just realized that things would be a lot less hectic for Edward if I wasn't there."

"Oh," Charlie occupied himself with pretending to pay extra close attention to two cars at an intersection. "How did Edward react when you told him?"

I think my pelvis can answer that. "He was upset, but he understood."

"Well, just because you're not living together doesn't mean you can't date or anything."

I turned in my seat to stare at him. He fidgeted awkwardly under my gaze, but he got into fatherly concern mode when he saw the tears in my eyes. The cruiser lofted slowly into the driveway and Charlie turned off the car.

"Are you," I swallowed back the tears. "Are you saying…?"

He sucked in a deep breath. "Am I saying that I'm okay with you and Edward?" I nodded. "No, I'm not saying I'm okay with it… but you're my daughter, and I don't want to lose you ever again, so for your sake, I'll man up and accept it."

"Oh, dad!" I flung myself at him and threw my arms around his shoulders, sobbing and crying tears of joy into the crook of his neck.

His hands lightly patted my back and came around to hug me loosely. Charlie wasn't the greatest at fatherly affection, but despite that, he was my father and I loved him.

"Hey now, no more crying, this is supposed to be good times in the Swan house."

"I am happy, I'm so happy it's m-making me cry." I sobbed.

"Aw hell, kid," Charlie laughed. "I would've swallowed my pride a long time ago if I knew it meant you'd be this happy."

"Thank you, dad," I whispered and slunmped back into my seat.

A/N: The Age of Edward Contest is done accepting entries and round one of voting is up. We had over a hundred entries (W-O-W) so we decided to cut the polls in half to make it fair. There are a lot of great authors entered, but be careful to read the entire blurb before casting your vote. There are some stories with similar titles and once you cast your votes there's no going back.

Voting will go on until the 22nd and then round two will be up. Vote here: http://www(DOT)fanfiction(DOT)net/~theageofedward

Don't forget to review!