First off, I was absolutely blown away with the number of reviews for the last chapter. Quoting the wonderful Sally Fields, 'You like me, you really like me'. A new reader sent me a review for every chapter as they were read. I was giddy with delight when each email popped up. Thank you all SOOOO much!

Here's the second to last chapter. I'm not a big fan of stories that drag it out so I'm stopping at 20 chapters, but the ideas are already starting for a new one. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! SM owns it all, I just play with it.

Out of the Shadows

Chapter 19: Wrapped Around Your Finger

BPOV

So much had changed in my life in such a short amount of time. In the span of three weeks, my father was lying in a hospital bed, recovering from life threatening injuries, my childhood home was being renovated so there would be a bedroom and bathroom on the main floor, and I was now Edward Cullen's girlfriend. The last thought brought a dreamy smile to my face.

It had been two weeks since Edward, Alice and Jasper left Forks to return to L.A. We had said our goodbyes at the Cullen house. Thankfully the family gave Edward and me a private moment, as they loaded the car. Edward kept apologizing for having to leave, promising to return within 3 weeks. He had promotional work, ADR work on one of his films in post-production, and several meetings with his publicist and agent. I kept shushing him, even with my lips, but he persisted. I think he was dragging it out so I would kiss him more.

For the last two days he was in town, kissing was all that we did, and in every location possible. It was like high school in a way because we couldn't keep our hands or lips to ourselves, but we didn't want to take it any further for now. No one will ever hear me complain about kissing Edward Cullen though.

After Edward left, Esme kept a close eye on me, to make sure that I was doing okay and didn't need any additional help. It still surprised me how easily I fit into the Cullen family. I would always be a Swan, but growing up with just my Dad was solitary. With all of his shift work, I spent much of my time alone, just food and me, so feeling comfortable with a family wasn't something that I ever expected, but being with the Cullens was like wearing your favourite sweat pants.

The doorbell startled me out of my reverie, that's when I noticed the time. The contractors were here to finish up the new rooms. I was still amazed at how quickly Edward and Esme had managed to get this extension put on. I let the workers in and offered them some coffee, I always had a pot on now for them, before we took a look at what needed to be completed. The flooring, baseboards, trim and painting were the only details left, and I know that Esme was just waiting for this time because it was her area of expertise.

I left the guys to it, and decided to go for a run. Since Edward had left, I had settled into a routine of a run after breakfast, then a shower before heading over to the hospital. Dad was expected out of the hospital by the beginning of next week, only 4 weeks since the initial accident. Thankfully for Dad, the drunk driver had pled guilt to the charges so he had already been sent to a correctional facility before his formal sentencing. That was definitely not a hearing that I wanted my Dad at, or myself for that matter.

The run felt really good, the weather was cooperating for late fall, but the hot shower after was even better. The few days that the water was disrupted were horrible, but Esme took pity on me and I stayed at their house for that time. I found myself wandering into Edward's room just to feel the connection, and to remind myself of the incredible scent that was Edward Cullen. For all the girls and women who swooned over him, they would never receive the full sum of his magnetism until they had been close enough to smell him.

Dad wasn't in his room when I got to the hospital. Emma let me know that he was down at physiotherapy, but would be back in 20 minutes. As I waited in his room, I thought about the last phone call with Edward. He was hoping to be back in town by the weekend. He only had a week or so before he had to be in Europe for some promotional tours. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be that far from me for so long, but we hadn't come to any decision on that trip. I kept thinking that I needed to get back to work soon, because my bank account was feeling a huge pinch with being away and still paying rent on my place in L.A was not making it any easier. Edward had offered to help me out with my money situation, but I wasn't ready to feel like a kept woman. I needed to work and stay active; I just didn't want to work for anyone but Edward right now. I knew that he would never go for that, boss/employee situation, but I knew that he needed help and that Alice wanted to pursue other opportunities.

A knock on the door brought me back to the present. Dr. Cullen was standing in the doorway with the same heart-stopping smile that his son possessed.

"I hope I'm not disturbing a good daydream?" I stood up to shake his hand, but he took me into a big hug instead. "Bella, we're practically family now so a handshake just doesn't seem enough now. And before you say anything, it's Carlisle, not Dr. Cullen."

"Okay, Carlisle. How's my father doing?"

"Well he'll be out of here by the weekend. Esme tells me that the rooms will be ready by Friday so it looks like it will all work out. Edward's coming back on Friday night, isn't he?"

"Yeah, I'm heading out to Port Angeles to pick him up. Will that be a problem for my Dad at the house?"

"Your Dad and I already made arrangements for a private nurse to come in and check on him, and be with him when you are not available. You know your Dad, he doesn't want you to be tied down because of his situation." Carlisle made some notes on my Dad's chart, said his goodbyes, and left the room. My Dad showed up shortly afterward, and we had a good talk about what was going to happen when he got back home.

"I want to do something for Esme and Edward for all that they've done for us." Charlie hated being in debt to someone, even if it was necessary. "Well Dad, I'm sure they are just happy to help. I was wondering if you would mind if I took off in about a week to do some work. Edward is heading to Europe for some work, and I want to go and work for him on this tour. Alice can't make it out of the country at the moment, and he will need an assistant for the tour. I promise that I'll be back for Christmas." My words came out of my in a jumble, like they used to when I was young and asking for something that I knew he wouldn't give me.

"Bella, I was expecting you to leave soon. I'll be fine, but just make sure that this is what you want and who you want." Dad was never big on the whole touchy-feeling conversations so this was about as personal as we were going to get.

"I'll have to talk to Edward about it first. He doesn't know what I've been thinking about. I wanted to make sure that you were going to be okay before I made any plans." The rest of my visit went by quickly. We talked about who had been by for a visit, and some of the new town gossip. My mind was not on the conversation though, I was already thinking about how I was going to bring up the topic of me working for him again with Edward.

The week progressed as expected. The contractors and Esme completed the rooms by Thursday afternoon, so everything was well in place for Dad's return on Friday. I wasn't sure if I was more anxious about Dad's homecoming or Edward's. Carlisle and Emma, the day nurse, and Esme were there with me when Dad got home. We all wanted to make sure that Dad would be comfortable with the changes, and that he could become more self-sufficient in the new rooms. As we expected, Esme had the rooms made perfect for Dad's situation. I left Dad in everyone's capable hands to pick up Edward.

The drive to Port Angeles took forever, or at least it seemed to, and when I finally got to the airport I was so wound up that I was bouncing when I saw Edward. I almost started running to him because I'd missed him so much, but I didn't want to look desperate. So I had to laugh out loud when I saw Edward running towards me. We kissed there in the parking lot, not caring about who saw us. I had a feeling that our relationship would not go unnoticed for much longer, but nether one of us cared at that moment.

It took awhile to get out of the parking lot because our lips wouldn't leave the other alone. It had only been three weeks but it felt like three months. On the drive back to Forks, he caught me up on all the things that he had been doing in L.A., the couple of new offers and more details about his upcoming trip. He became quiet after talking about Europe. I figured that this was my chance to bring up my proposal.

"Uh," I started but Edward quickly talked over me.

"Bella, I was wondering if you wanted to come to Europe with me?" His eyes met mine with uncertainty.

"Actually, I was going to ask you about that trip. I was thinking that you would need an assistant, and I was wondering if you would hire me again." I stared straight ahead, driving, because I didn't want to see his reaction.

"Hire you? I was going to bring you along as my girlfriend, but you want to work for me?"

"You know I need a new job but I don't want to work for another actor, and be away from you so much. I figured that with Alice's new design opportunities that you would need someone full time, and you know that I'm capable of being your assistant. I just thought that instead of just taking your money that I would work for it. Also this way we can travel and be together without raising questions about our relationship. If everyone thinks that I'm your assistant then we can go for a while without being hassled." Again the verbal diarrhea was hitting me. There was a silence in the car that hung like a bomb cloud.

"Bella, I can't believe that I never thought about this. That's probably the best plan that I've heard. I was worried that you wouldn't want to come because of your father. Are you sure that you'll be okay leaving him right now?"

"I think your mom and Dad have been working with him to remove all obstacles. They even hired a nurse to be with him when I leave. You realize that now we don't have a place to ourselves anymore." Edward grinned at me with devilment in his eyes when I mentioned us being alone.

"Oh, I'm sure that we can find somewhere to go, plus we'll have all of Europe to be together. I don't know how much of the countries that we'll see, maybe just a lot of hotel rooms." We both laughed at that, and the rest of the drive went by with casual conversation.

Edward had me laughing so hard that it hurt by the time we reached my house. I wanted to check on Dad, and Edward wanted to have a look at the extension and say hi to my Dad. Carlisle and Esme were still at the house when we got inside, which became evident by how quickly Esme enveloped Edward in a hug. After extracting himself from Esme, Edward shook hands with Carlisle and then my Dad. I left the room to let everyone catch up, and I knew that Dad what to thank Edward for all of his help, so I put the kettle on for some tea.

The Cullens didn't stay long at the house after that. Edward said that he would catch up with me in the morning, as he gave me a goodbye kiss on the front porch. Letting him leave again was difficult, and it hurt to not spend more time with him. After the struggles that we had growing up, being apart from him wasn't in the cards anymore. We would have to find a way to make it work because he was now the most important person in my life.

I was up early the next morning to make breakfast and be ready for anything that Dad needed. There was a new schedule posted on the fridge for when the nurse would be visiting, but it still felt strange to think of going to Europe when Dad was in this situation. As I assembled his breakfast on a tray, a noise from the doorway startled me. There was Dad in his wheelchair coming to get his breakfast.

"Hey, Bells, smells good." He wheeled himself to the table. "That new room and bed are great. I was surprised as how easy it is to get in and out. It won't be long before I'm on crutches anyway but not having to tackle those stairs is great."

This was the most talkative that I'd heard my Dad in a long time. "So Dad, what's on your mind?" I knew that something was up, and that he was beating around the bush.

"You know we too well, don't you? Carlisle, Esme and I were talking last night, and we want you to go to Europe with Edward, and I'm pretty sure that he said yes to your offer. I'm not an invalid, Bells, but I never could have gotten this far without you. Go and enjoy yourself in Europe but make sure that you're back here for Christmas." With that said, he started into his breakfast and didn't say another word.

When Edward showed up at my door around 10, I was ready to get out of the house. The nurse had already arrived to help with getting Dad situated, and to start some of his physio. It was pretty evident that I wasn't needed, which hurt, but if it meant that I could spend more time with Edward then I was all for it.

Edward barely got a greeting out before I was closing the door closed behind me. I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the car. "Whoa, Bella, what's up?"

"The house is very crowded now, and I have to spend some time with you. Why don't we go and get a bite to eat at the diner?" We drove to the diner, and found that our booth was empty so we sat there. As we were eating lunch, Angela and Ben came in and joined us at the booth.

It was funny to watch Angela around Edward now. In high school, she was quite comfortable around Edward, but now that he was a movie star I could see that she had a nervous energy about her. We spent a long time at the diner, just talking and reminiscing about high school, and having a great laugh about the huge misunderstanding that was high school. I don't think I will ever say that my memories of high school were fond, but they were definitely taking on a different tone.

As the afternoon continued, the four of us went back to Angela's house for dinner and drinks. I never had such an entertaining evening with anyone. We were all so comfortable with each other, and the drinks didn't hurt either. The sight of Edward enjoying himself and relaxing was heart lifting. When we were in Vancouver, I noticed how often he put the 'movie star' image on, and how much he self edited his own speech just to make sure that nothing that would damage him or other would get out. The only time I'd ever seen him let his guard down was with his family and tonight. I knew this wasn't going to last long so I sat back and just soaked it all in.

We ended up crashing at Angela's house because neither one of us was fit to drive anywhere. In the morning, we did the drive of shame to our respective houses. Edward wanted me to make travel arrangements for myself that matched his. When I started the process, much later in the afternoon, I wasn't surprised to see that Alice had already made several additional reservations in Edward's name. The only obstacle that I had was getting on the same flight but even that seemed to go smoother than it should have.

I spent the rest of Sunday with my Dad. I even made a proper Sunday dinner with a roast beef and all the trimmings. It had been so long since I'd prepared a family dinner that it felt really good. The rest of the week was going to be busy for Dad with his appointments, but I was surprised at how many people offered him rides to where he needed. I could see that my trip to Europe wasn't going to be as difficult as I imagined.

Our flight was leaving Seattle on Thursday at 6:45 pm, but being an international flight we were leaving Forks just before 11 am. Edward and I spent as much time as we could with our families because we knew that we would have time together in Europe. This was going to be our first chance at alone since our stolen moments in Vancouver. I was giddy with excitement, and woefully upset with the selection of cloths that I could bring. Edward assured me that I was to go shopping while he was in meetings, so this trip was getting better and better.

The bubble of tranquility was quickly burst when we arrived in Seattle. Alice had made arrangements with security, but somehow the photographers were always there. I was smart in my choice of outfit, assistant not girlfriend, so I was able to slip ahead of Edward and start the checking in procedure. Once we were through security, we were ushered into a private room, supplied by British Airways for their first class passengers, to wait for our departure. We did our best to remain professional in our conduct, only sending each other smoldering looks only occasionally.

Once we were settled in our seats, the plane was taxiing down the runway, Edward took my hand, leaned over and whispered in my ear, "The first of many adventures together, my love."