Sorry this took so long! Things just went crazy here lately, but I hope everyone had a great holiday! Hopefully the outcome in this chapter will keep you all from being angry with me!

Please go check out my new story, When Edward Met Bella, that I'm co-authoring with coldasicex3 who is amazing! It's posted over at twilighted and when you're done reading, come play with us in the AU-Human thread of the forum! We'd love to hear from you!

Don't own it...

Enjoy!

BPOV

Waking up next to Edward was something that I once took advantage of, but after the last two weeks of sleeping alone I now knew how special he was and how ridiculous I had been. What was I thinking, practicing hours upon hours a day? My college professor would have killed me...After she cancelled my lesson so I could get some sleep.

I rolled over to face Edward as I slowly began waking up. I was still wrapped in his embrace and I wanted to prolong the moment for as long as possible. His bronze hair was sticking up on the side he hadn't slept on and I almost giggled as I pictured what his full head of hair would look like when he actually woke up.

He seemed so at peace and I envied him. Even though I was finally able to get a decent night's sleep, I knew I still had bags under my eyes. I checked my watch and sighed, knowing we would both have to get up soon.

"Edward," I whispered, running a hand through his hair softly. "You have to get up...We need to be at the center in an hour."

Edward opened his eyes sleepily and yawned, pulling me closer to his body and hugging me. Waking up next to Edward couldn't really compare to early morning cuddling and I almost surrendered to the familiarity of it all, just so we could hide away for a few more hours.

"Ten more minutes," he said, his voice muffled by my hair and the pillow his head rested on.

"No sir, you have to get up. We have work today."

"Correction," he said, pulling away slightly. "I have work today. You do not. You need rest, and that's what you are going to get."

I sighed, "Ok, dad. Did you call Alice and tell her?"

Edward looked at me for a moment, a strange expression on his face.

"What?" I grinned, blushing under his gaze.

"You aren't going to argue with me? I thought for sure I would have to lock you in your apartment to get you to stay..."

The image of Edward making a mad dash for the door and locking it behind him sent me into a fit of giggles and it took me a few moments to calm down. As soon as I looked back into his eyes I became serious again, "Edward, I have been running myself ragged for two weeks and it has gotten me nowhere. I'm even worse than I was in the beginning, if that is even possible. I have nothing to show for all of my work, and I've put you on the back burner which I never should have done. I need a few days to relax and get everything back in order again...And I trust what you want me to do."

Edward still looked dumbfounded and I grinned at him before I leaned up to close the distance between us. His lips felt like home, and as his arms tightened around me I wondered how I had managed to go without him for two weeks. Was I crazy? It was like going without food or water...

Our positions switched so Edward hovered over me on the mattress and I realized that we were quickly losing control of the situation and would never get out of bed if this continued. I sighed in frustration as I pulled away, resting my hands on Edward's cheeks as his face floated inches above mine.

"As much as I would love to continue this, you did not get an excused absence today, therefore you have to go to work."

Edward growled and rolled out of the bed, huffing the entire way to the shower. While he was cleaning up I made coffee and decided on a plan for the day. I was just finalizing my idea when Edward came into the kitchen, breathing in deeply.

"That coffee smells amazing, Bella. Thanks so much."

"You're welcome," I smiled, hopping off of my perch on the counter to give him a quick peck. "Now, go to work. I'll see you this afternoon...I have to go take a shower."

"Bella, you need to rest. That's the whole reason you have today off."

"I'll rest, don't worry," I said as I went to hug him goodbye. "I love you. Have a great day. Don't go crazy."

He rolled his eyes at my last statement and kissed my cheek. "Love you. I'll call you in a few hours."

For the next few hours I busied myself getting ready. I allowed myself a lazy bubble bath and took my time picking an outfit and fixing my hair. Alice would have been proud in my attention to detail.

I wanted to look nice because I had decided that today would be the day that I went about fixing things. First on the list was my confident--taken care of with my bubble bath and the flattering yellow summer dress I was wearing. Second was the situation with Edward--I was halfway there, but bringing him lunch at work wouldn't hurt.

So here I was, walking up to the center with two sandwiches and some potato salad from the deli we used to always eat at when we first met. My hair was blowing in the light breeze and I smiled at my reflection in the window as I opened the double doors to head to Edward's office.

"Knock, knock," I called, peeking into his office to find him at his desk, his cell phone in his hand and a small grin across his face.

His head snapped towards the door at the sound of my voice and his grin widened to a full on smile. "Hey, beautiful. I was just about to call you."

He snapped his phone shut as I walked further into his office and leaned over his desk to kiss him quickly. "I thought we could sit in one if the practice rooms and have lunch?"

"That is an excellent idea. I'm starving. Let me go get us some drinks from the lounge."

I made my way to Edward's favorite classroom and started setting our picnic up by the window, like we used to do. I knew the room was available for at least an hour and a half, and the idea of spending that time flirting with my amazing boyfriend had me giddy with excitement.

Someone opened the door to the classroom and I turned around to smile at Edward, only to find Tanya staring back at me.

"Bella...I thought you weren't supposed to be here today."

"Hello, Tanya,"I greeted her, determined not to let her bring me down today.

"Where is Edward? I wanted to talk to him about our duet."

"Your...duet?" My confidence faltered slightly, but part of me was convinced that she was lying.

"Oh, didn't he tell you? We've been practicing together a lot lately and I asked him about a duet a few days ago. I was just confused with where my legs were supposed to be--the directions on this routine are so confusing."

She held some music out to me and I recognized it as another comedy duet, full of swapping benches, playing over each other, and crossing legs. The thought of Edward and Tanya practicing the duet together made me sick...Especially when I remembered exactly how we had spent the majority of our duet practices tangled up on the piano bench. She's lying, she's lying, she's lying. Don't listen to her.

"We're actually just about to have lunch, if you wouldn't mind waiting until later."

Tanya looked taken aback at my comment and she faltered a moment before continuing, "Aren't you supposed to be sick or something? Why are you here?"

"Can't I surprise my boyfriend with lunch?"

"Not when you're not supposed to be here. I honestly don't understand what he sees in you. You fake sick just to get out of work, you're lazy, you can't play piano no matter how often you practice...And believe me, I've heard you here practicing in the afternoons. You think you would have all of the pieces learned by now with the amount of time you're spending on them."

"Tanya, please leave." I refused to let her know how much her words were getting to me, even though I silently believed she was right.

"No, I want to wait here for Edward. Maybe he'll notice my dedication to our duet and see that I'm much more motivated and talented than you are. It's only a matter of time."

"Hey! You can't talk to her like that!"

I spun towards the door to see Alice standing there, her eyes wild as she stared at Tanya. "You need to leave immediately."

Tanya scoffed at Alice and turned back to me, "You going to let your little dwarf fight your battles for you? Come on, Bella...show me what you've got."

I was about to retaliate when Alice interrupted again. "Tanya, your practice room you reserved opened up twenty minutes ago. If you aren't going to use it, I have a student that would like to warm up before her lesson. Make up your mind quick."

A familiar tune floated down the hallway and I recognized Edward's whistling as he made his way to the classroom. In the midst of the situation I was in, I couldn't help but grin as I realized he was whistling the melody to a Mendelssohn piece I was learning for the recital. "Tanya, you need to leave, please. I don't want any trouble."

"Maybe you should take the practice room yourself, Bella. Lord knows you could use it."

It was at that exact moment that Edward chose to enter the classroom, "Is there a problem here?"

By the look in his eyes, I could tell he heard Tanya's last comment.

"Oh, Edward! Hello!" Tanya cooed, rushing towards him. I wanted to gag.

"Tanya?...What did you just say to Bella?"

Edwards eyes moved between Tanya, Alice, and I, his face curious.

"I was just volunteering to give up my practice time to Bella, since I know she is preparing for her recital. I thought she could use the extra time."

"She's had plenty of practice, and she doesn't need you telling her otherwise," Edward almost spat. "I think you should leave. You're obviously causing problems here and I won't allow it."

"But, I had a question about our duet. I've been working on the primo part and I really would like to practice it while you have some free time."

"Oh for crying out loud, Tanya!" Edward's voice raised and my jaw dropped as he looked at Tanya like she had three heads. She shrank away from him slightly as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "We are not doing a duet, I willnot practice with you, you will not have an extra lesson during my lunch hour! Now, I asked you to leave."

"Edward," Alice spoke softly, heading for the hallway, "Tanya is causing too many problems here. She needs to leave your studio. Permanently. She's disrespecting Bella constantly, and I won't put up with it anymore. I heard her just a few minutes ago!"

Shock crossed my face as Alice confronted the big purple elephant taking up half of the classroom. Edward's eyes flickered to me where I was perched on the windowsill, "Is this true, Bella? Was Tanya bothering you?"

I could only nod as Tanya's death glare focused on me.

"Don't be silly, Edward," she said, placing a hand on his arm, which he quickly tossed away, "I haven't said a word. I was just asking her where you were."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe, Tanya. And I'm going to have to ask that you leave and please don't come to your lesson next week."

"But you weren't even in here!"

Edward swung his head towards Tanya, "I didn't have to be in here to know that Bella is telling the truth. I trust her with all of my heart, and if she tells me that you are in here making her life a living hell, I will believe her. Leave."

"You can't just quit teaching me," she argued, stomping her foot on the tiled floor.

"You have disrespected three of the teachers in this center, Tanya. You have annoyed the hell out of me since you got here, made Bella miserable, and you haven't accomplished a single thing in your lessons. I have every right to refuse to teach you."

"I've already paid for this month in lessons."

"Can't you see that we don't want you here?" Alice finally broke through. "I'll send you a full refund in the mail."

Tanya let out a scream of frustration and all but turned into the Tazmanian Devil as she flew out of the building.

Rosalie chose this moment to step out of her office with a bowl of Ramen noodles in her hand. She had a fork covered in noodles halfway to her mouth when she noticed Tanya storming out the door.

"Did I miss something?"

Alice chuckled and pranced down the hallway, grabbing Rosalie's arm and twirling around. "Ding dong, the witch is dead. Which old witch? The wicked witch! Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!"

Her chorus could be heard throughout the building as she danced back to her classroom.

I stayed perched against the windowsill as Edward ran his fingers through his hair one more time and closed the classroom door before looking at me with a grin on his face. "Alice couldn't have described it any better."

He walked across the room slowly and took a seat at the piano placed in the middle of the room. He started playing a light melody and glanced at me, motioning with his head for me to join him. Hesitantly, I sat down on the bench and began to play along with him, following his lead.

His playing stopped suddenly and he turned to look at me as I continued playing. My hands froze as soon as I noticed he was finished and I smiled at him as he reached up to lace our fingers together.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get rid of her. I should have noticed sooner."

"Don't worry about it, Edward...She's gone now and that is all that matters."

He kissed my knuckles lightly and held my hand to his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too. Now...how about some lunch?"

A smile broke across his face once more as he stood up from the bench and held his hand out to me. "Excellent."

He lead me over to our makeshift picnic and we sat together, flirting over our bologna sandwiches and potato salad as "Ding Dong, The Witch Is Dead" echoed throughout our heads.

Let me know what you think! Merry Christmas!