Thank you all so much for your reviews. I've managed to catch up on my sleep so hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out within a week as well. As of last chapter, I was thinking that there might be only 2 chapters left but I'm think that there might be 2 more still. I'll just have get writing and see where it takes me.

SM owns it all. I just get to play with it.

Out of the Shadows

Chapter 18: Needing/Getting

BPOV

The drive back from the diner was not as leisurely as the drive there. As we past the hospital, I noticed that Esme's car was no longer parked there. Esme and Alice must have come by and picked it up. I'm sure Alice had a 'feeling' that I wouldn't need it tonight.

There was a nervous energy in the car now. The air felt electric with sexual tension. A spark was always present between Edward and I but now that we had given into the feelings the energy was palpable. Both of us kept our hands to ourselves, and our eyes straight ahead. I didn't dare touch Edward for fear of not being able to stop at his hands. The idea of starting something in his car was a fantasy of mine while in high school, but now I had enough self control to hold off until at least my front porch, which was now in sight.

Edward parked the car, and before I could even open the door he was there opening it for me. He held his hand out for me, and as soon as I was out of the car he pulled me towards him. My bag and purse were dropped to the ground as my vision was filled with his incredible toned chest. His fingers tilted my chin up, and his lips overwhelmed mine. The taste of coffee and pie were on his luscious lips, and as I sighed with pleasure my mouth opened enough to let his tongue sweep across my bottom lip. He had me pinned up against his car, as our hands roamed over each others bodies. Eventually my hands settled in his hair as I pulled him towards me, and our kisses deepened.

We pulled apart to catch our breath. "I was going to wait until the front porch before I pounced," I said as I smiled at him.

He gave me soft little kisses, "I just couldn't wait any more. You don't know how long I've wanted to do this." He picked up my bags, took my hand, and led me towards the house. He searched through my purse to find my keys to open the front door. I was so caught up in the sensation of floating that I barely noticed that we were inside my house now.

He dropped my bags on the closest chair, shrugged out of his jacket and then turned to me. I was still standing there like a lovesick idiot, which I was, as he stepped towards me and removed my jacket. As he pulled the sleeves down he left a trail of kisses down my neck, and then back up again once my jacket was off.

Edward kissed every inch of my neck, then up to one ear and then the other. All I could do was moan as my head tilted back to allow him more room to take me further into paradise. This was better than any high school fantasy, and I had no intention of letting it stop in the morning. I pulled his face up to mine and kissed him deeply. We stood there in the front hall making out like teenagers.

When we came up for air, I pulled him to the staircase and up to my bedroom. Edward kissed my hand as we ascended the stairs, but he stopped just before my room. "Are you sure you want to?"

I looked at him like he'd grown another head. He raised his hands, "Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this but I want to make sure this is what you want because I don't think I'll be able to stop once we start."

"Edward, I've wanted this for a very long time, and I know that I won't be able to stop once we start." Before I could say or think anything else, he had closed the distance between us and was kissing me hard. I fumbled behind my back to open the door, and when I did we tumbled into my room, laughing. Once we righted ourselves, we fell onto the bed and continued where we had stopped.

Edward pulled my shirt out of my pants, and as I felt his hand on my stomach, my whole body felt a jolt of electricity. He must have felt something as well because he stopped kissing me and just looked at me. "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah. I can't wait to see what happens when we really get going." We both laughed, and then he paused and just looked into my eyes. "Bella, you mean so much to me. Please don't ever leave." His lips covered mine with such passion and love that a tear rolled from my eye, then the fervor began again.

We fumbled with our clothing between our kisses. As I removed my shirt, Edward was silent and just staring. I became self-conscious and tried to cover myself up again. He gently grabbed my arms and pulled them down. "You are absolutely gorgeous. Don't ever hide from me." He lowered his head and kissed the top of each of my breasts, lowered me to the bed and proceeded to kiss every part of my upper body. "You were incredible in high school too."

Once he returned his astonishing lips back to mine, I started to remove his shirt. My breath caught in my throat once it was thrown to the floor. I had seen Edward shirtless before but never from this close proximity. Every curve of his muscles was perfection. I pushed him to his back, and proceeded to cover every inch of his chest with my mouth. I locked eyes with him and the intensity in them took my breath away.

I knew at that moment that I was his until he said otherwise. My obsession had turned into a deep love, irrevocable and true, and this night would be unsurpassed.

EPOV

As the fog of sleep slowly lifted from my brain, all I could smell was the enticing scent of Bella Swan, so I knew that last night was real and not just the best dream ever. I gradually opened my eyes to see the most extraordinary woman lying next to me. Her eyes were still closed and the gentle rise and fall of her chest told me that she was still enjoying her sleep. Her chestnut brown hair was fanned out over the pillow, her rose hued lips slightly parted and her delicate hand firmly placed over my hand. How I deserved this exquisite creature was beyond my imagination, but not that I had her I wasn't going to let her go again.

I quietly extracted myself from her grip, rose from the bed and slipped my pants on. Staring down at Bella's body was how I wanted to wake up every morning, but this morning was extra special because it was our first. Silently leaving her room, I cleaned myself up and then went to the kitchen to start breakfast.

I rummaged through her cupboards and fridge but was disappointed with what was available. Obviously Charlie was never big on cooking for himself, and Bella hadn't had a chance to do a proper grocery shop since she arrived. I stared at the orange juice, milk, and Cinnamon Crunch on the counter and realized that this was not going to work. Just as I was debating on what to do, there was a knock on the front door.

To say I was caught off guard was an understatement. I wasn't sure if I should answer the door at Bella's house so I took a quick peek out the kitchen window to see whose car was parked out front. There, parked next to my rental, was Esme's car.

I took a look through the peephole to confirm that Alice was standing on Bella's porch. I chuckled as I opened the door, "Why am I not surprised that you found me?"

"Well, when you didn't return last night, it was the logical next place that you would be. How was your evening, big brother?" Alice raised her eyebrows, and a devilish smile was playing across her lips.

"Much better than I hoped." My smile was unstoppable just thinking about what had happened between Bella and I. Last night was the best sex that I'd ever had, but say that it was just sex was so off the mark. Bella and I made love last night. That is the only way I could describe the awe-inspiring experience that brought my mind, body and heart together. I had never felt this much for another person.

Alice snapped her fingers in front of my face, "Earth to Edward. Obviously it was good, and the first of many. I figured that you would need some help this morning though. Am I correct to assume that there is not much in this house in the way of groceries?"

"Alice, you have some scary gifts, you know that. I was just staring at the options, and they are not good." Alice stepped over the threshold, and that was when I noticed the bags that she was holding.

"I have come to your rescue. I brought some coffees," holding them up for me to take, " and Mom made some muffins and a fresh fruit salad." She handed me the remaining bag, and a bag with flowers in it. "I figured that if you were still here then it was a special occasion so why not bring flowers."

"Alice, I don't know how I get by without you." I brought her to me for a big hug, and kiss on the cheek. "You are the best. I'll never be able to replace you."

"Oh, I'm sure that my replacement is upstairs right now." She gave me a quick kiss, and then was bounding down the front stairs back to the car. "We'll see you guys for dinner. I'm sure Bella will want to spend the afternoon with her dad. Bye."

Closing the front door, I returned to the kitchen to get the food out for Bella. I even managed to find a tray to take her breakfast to her. The coffee, muffin, bowl of fresh fruit, and orange juice were set off by the single daisy that I pulled from the bouquet. The rest of the flowers were on her kitchen table. I was thinking of all the other gifts that I wanted to lavish on Bella, now that she was mine, as long as she agrees to be mine.

As I entered the bedroom again, Bella was awake and stretching her arms above her head. The bed sheets fell away from her chest as she did this, and the view presented to me was of glorious perfection. She gave a cute squeak as she covered herself up again. "Please don't do that for my benefit. That was the best morning view I've had in a long time." I laughed as I put down her breakfast.

"Oh, Edward, you didn't have to do this," she paused, "Where did you find the food?"

"A little fairy stopped by with some goodies for us." I picked up the fork, speared a strawberry and fed it to Bella.

"Well, remind me to thank that little fairy tonight." Bella continued to eat, as I watched her. I was still amazed that we were here together. "So did you have a good night?" Bella took a sip of coffee after she asked me. I could see the insecurity in her eyes, just before she closed them to drink.

"Last night is at the top of my best nights ever list, and I'm hoping that it's not the last." Now it was my turn to be insecure. I had played my cards when I sent her my drawings and letters, but we had never had a conversation about where we were going.

Her smile lit up her face, "I'm pretty sure that there will be many more like this, if your schedule allows." I leaned in towards her, being careful not to disturb the tray, and captured her lips between mine. She threw her arms around my neck as the kiss deepened.

Realizing that breakfast was done, I moved the tray to the side table, trying hard not to remove my lips from Bella's but it wasn't working. I stopped kissing her, and the moan of disappointment from her made my heart jump. "Was that a whine of disappointment, Miss Swan?"

"Yes, and if you know what's good for you, you'll return those lips of yours back to mine immediately." How could I disappoint her anymore? I practically jumped on her, rolled her on top of me, and resumed my assault on her lips, and eventually every body part.

Around lunchtime, we finally got dressed and presentable. Bella wanted to get to the hospital to visit her father, and I needed to do some things before dinnertime. I dropped Bella off at the hospital with the promise to be back by 4:30 to pick her up.

I desperately needed to get moving on the house renovation project. I knew that mom would be able to help me with the contractors and such. I was due back in L.A. in three days so there was some urgency to the project.

As I arrived at the house, Jasper and Alice were still there, just hanging out in the living room. I thanked Alice again for the awesome breakfast, and then went to find mom. She was working in her office, as I knocked on the door frame.

"Hey sweetheart, come on in. What can I do for you?" She put her pen down, leaned on her desk and trained her eyes on me. There was something about her office that was soothing. Even when I was in trouble as a kid, it never seemed as bad when the punishment was administered in her office. Dad's was much more cold and clinical, but mom's was like an old, overstuffed chair that was always welcoming.

"First off, thanks for the care package this morning. Secondly, I need your help with some renovations on Charlie's house." I slid into the chair across from her, and we started to discuss what Charlie would need done before he returned home. We spent the next couple of hours working on the plans and making calls.

Alice and Jasper had already started dinner when we finally left her office, but all the plans were in place and would start before I left for L.A. Mom said that she would oversee all the construction so Bella didn't have to be in two places at once.

At 4:30, I was outside the hospital waiting for Bella. I still wasn't sure how much she wanted me around, so I decided to stay in the car, instead of going up to her father's room. I know that we had spent an incredible night together but I didn't want to smother her. I only waited for a few minutes before she came out of the front doors.

Bella looked astonishing. Her eyes were bright, her hair softly blowing in the wind and she walked towards me with the most unbelievable smile. She constantly amazed me, and I couldn't believe that she was with me now. When she got in the car, she leaned over and gave me a quick kiss.

"Thanks so much for coming to get me. Charlie is looking so much better now, but he's driving the nurses crazy already. I sure hope we can get him home quickly." I filled her in on the plans that Esme and I had made with the contractors. Bella was so happy but I could tell that she was worried about the cost.

"Darling, don't worry about the cost. The contractor is doing the work at a reduced cost because it's for your father, and trust me, Esme is happy to help." When we arrived to the house, the smell we were greeted with was mouth-watering.

We spent most of the evening with my family. Bella fit into our family like she was always with us. There were no uncomfortable silences, and we barely let go of each others hand, even at dinner our knees were in constant contact. Occasionally I would see a knowing smile pass between my parents as they looked at Bella and me.

When I drove Bella back home, I was torn between staying the night again or being a gentlemen and giving her some time. Even though I wanted to spend every minute with Bella, I wanted our courtship to progress slowly, like it should have in high school. Back then, we never would have slept together so quickly but that didn't mean we had to stay on that track for the rest of our time.

I pulled into her driveway and turned the car off. Bella placed her hand over mine, leaned toward me, and gave me a deep, passionate kiss. "I hope you don't mind if I say good night here. Last night was unbelievable but I think we need to take things a bit slower."

I gave a short laugh, "I was thinking the exact same thing." I kissed her hand gently. "Bella, I want to spend every moment with you but I also want us to take it slowly. I've never felt so much…love for anyone but my family, and there is no way I'm going to mess it up by rushing." I cradled her face within my hands, and gently kissed each cheek and gave her a kiss with so much love that it took my breath away.

I know the ending of this chapter is a little 'eh' but I didn't want to write a mega chapter. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!